Harry Potter and the Gift of the Superi
by elizia25000bc
Summary: AU After Harry defeats Voldemort, the dead begin to return, very much alive. Takes off from end of book five except Sirius is still alive in this. HG, LJ. View the trailer at YouTube under Elizia25000bc
1. Halloween

Chapter 1: Halloween

"Honestly, Ron, with five years of experience one would think that you had learned to write a proper introduction" Hermione lectured as the three friends walked towards the Great Hall for dinner. Ron had received a P on the latest Transfiguration essay. It seemed, though, that the reason for his bad mood was primarily due to Hermione's scolding. Harry tried to tune Hermione out but that was simply not possible.

A few weeks ago, Ron had received a package from his twin brothers containing a bottle of firewhiskey. Ron and Harry had spent a Saturday evening in the Room of Requirement emptying the bottle over several games of chess and boy talk. After quite a few glasses, Ron had actually admitted to fancying Hermione. Not that Harry did not suspect that already, but he had not expected Ron to announce it after a few glasses.

Now, Ron was replying single words or grunts to Hermione's lecture. It seemed that Ron was trying hard not to start a row. And funnily enough, it seemed to Harry that Hermione was trying just as hard to start a row. Did she like the fights? Harry was not sure whether or not he wanted to know.

They entered the Great Hall which was decorated for the Halloween Feast, sat down and began their feast.

"Hi all" Harry stiffened momentarily as the youngest Weasley slid into the seat next to him.  
"Hi Gin" He replied "How was Care of Magical Creatures"  
"Err... interesting." She made a face. "We discussed pistrixes. Hagrid has a shoal of smaller ones in the lake"  
"Perhaps we should encourage Malfoy to take a swim, then." Ron smirked and they all snickered at the thought of the annoying boy meeting one of the huge dragon-headed fish. Hermione, though, tried to look stern - she was, after all, prefect - not to mention still angry with Ron. Soon pudding emerged and Harry was just reaching for a piece of pumpkin pie when a loud explosion was heard. Everyone froze before looking either for the source of the sound or at the teacher's table where Dumbledore had gotten up and was striding out of the Hall.

BOOM! The thundering sound was heard again. This time the Hall shook around them. People started screaming and running as a third crash reverberated through the castle and a large crack appeared in the enchanted ceiling of the Hall. The charm that depicted the sky outside flickered a bit. As Harry, Ron, Hermione and Ginny ran out of the Great Hall a piece of the ceiling loosened, fell down, and crushed part of the Hufflepuff table.

Professor McGonagall was shouting for students to retreat to their dormitories but few listened in their panic to get out of the way of the crumbling ceiling.

People were running in all directions and many were running out of the castle doors. Through the open doors Harry saw panicking students running straight towards the approaching death eaters outside. He winced as a small student - presumably a first year - was hit by a curse and thrown back about 15 yards from the blast.

Heart thumping in his chest, Harry ran out through the doors. As he stood on the castle steps, he noticed the presence of Ron, Hermione and Ginny behind him. Quickly, he took in the situation. Death eaters. Many of them. It looked like Voldemort had gathered his entire army tonight. They had been cursing the castle, but now as they walked closer, they started to curse the panicking students. He ran to the left and the other three followed.

"We should cover each other's backs" Hermione yelled.

Harry nodded and stood, facing the approaching masked people in black robes. Ron turned his back against Harry's, Ginny took the place at Harry's right side and Ron's left and Hermione covered Ginny's back on Harry's left. Then... they waited.

They did not have to wait long, though, before the first curse was heading straight at Harry. He blocked it. By now, several death eaters had noticed them and headed for them. Soon, they were all more than occupied - each keeping several death eaters at bay.  
Harry had no time to consider how his three friends were doing.  
"Reducto!" He got one of the slower death eaters.  
"Stupefy!" Another sent a red jet of light towards him.  
"Protego!" He managed to block the stunning spell and retaliated with a stinging hex which the death eater blocked sending a spell at Harry that he had not heard before.  
"Protego!" Luckily, the blocking charm worked and he quickly fired his next spell: "Diffindo"  
Harry was too quick for the death eater and the spell hit him across the stomach. He swayed a bit before he fell. Harry heard Ginny hit a death eater with a bat-bogey hex before the next death eater attacked him.

This one went down easily enough with a Petrificus Totalus from Harry - and he turned to the next death eater. But he did not attack. In fact, none of the remaining death eaters did. Instead, they had closed a circle around the four teens. Ron took down one who had turned away from them to fight someone attacking the outside of the circle.

Harry gasped in pain as a puff of smoke went off in the circle and his scar split open.  
"Well well well, we meet again." An icy voice said.  
"I hear you, Miss Weasley, have had the joy of my company before too"  
Harry felt Ginny sway a bit against his shoulder.  
"Stupefy!" He fired a curse against the Dark Lord, who lazily sidestepped it.  
"Do you really think you can stun me?" Voldemort laughed. A chilling laugh.  
Harry did not answer. Green eyes glared at red ones.  
"Have you noticed what day it is today? Hmm?" The evil wizard smiled.  
"Halloween... It has been exactly 15 years since I killed your good-for-nothing parents. What a perfect day to put an end to the Potter family once and for all"

Harry did not answer.

"You look a lot like your blood traitor father did in his last moments. He thought he could get me with a jelly legs charm though. Stupid boy. I even offered him a chance to live. But noooo, he had to go and get in the way. Foolish Gryffindors. Well... let us see how much fight there is left in you when your little friends are gone"

Harry could hear the blood pumping in his ears.  
"Crucio!" Harry tried to block the curse, but it was not aimed for him and his shield was slightly off. The curse hit its target and Ginny fell to the ground. She did not make a sound but she was writhing and shaking. Harry could feel Ron and Hermione's growing panic as they kept their positions behind him. Ginny gave in to the curse and screamed.

"Create a diversion." Harry took the chance to whisper to Ron and Hermione as Ginny's screams cut through the air. He got a nudge on the shoulder as reply. They had heard him. Voldemort lifted the curse and Ginny scrambled to her feet, reclaiming her position and covering Hermione's back.

Silence.

"Your mother..." Voldemort continued. "Begged and pleaded for your life. She even offered herself in your stead. Silly girl. I might have let her live but she would not get out of my way. She deserved it anyway. Filthy mudblood. She..."  
"Furnunculus!"  
"Reducto"  
Voldemort was cut off as both Ron and Hermione fired a curse at some of the death eaters. Both curses hit their target as none of the death eaters had expected the sudden movement. One death eater screamed as boils broke out all over his skin and the other was blasted far away and landed in several pieces. Surprised, the Dark Lord looked away from Harry for a moment and Harry took his chance.  
"Incendio!" A blast of fire hit the Dark Lord and immediately flared up his robes. "Expelliarmus!" Harry's wand flew out of his hand. "You foolish boy!" Voldemort had extinguished his robes. He flicked his wand and Ginny fell the to ground again. Her screams echoed over the grounds.

Harry felt his temper rising. Soon, Ginny's screams faded into an ongoing ringing tone and Harry felt his magic starting to overwhelm him.

_I'll kill him. I'll rip him slowly and leave him to bleed to death. Bastard! I'll tear him apart!_

His magic was almost too strong for him to control. Something told Harry to stretch out his arm and as he did, his body released a surge of magic, which hit a surprised Voldemort straight in the head - separating the head from the body. The body spasmed a bit and then it was still.

Harry stared at the body for a moment. Then, coming to, he realized everything was strangely quiet. Then he noticed a blue light surrounding them and that the death eaters did not seem to be able to pass through it.  
Wondering what it was, he turned around to see that the blue light came from Hermione. It streamed out of her wand and as he looked, she fell to her knees but still kept the light coming.

"I can't keep it much longer" She yelled.

Then, the death eaters seemed to be attacked from the outside. Hermione was on all fours now, fighting to keep the shield standing even though no-one were trying to break through it at the moment. Through the blue light they saw Dumbledore running over to where they were and the last few remaining death eaters disapparated.

Harry saw Hermione pass out and that Ron ran over to her - then his world went black too.


	2. The Hospital Wing

**A/N Thanks for all the great reviews. This is my first story so you can imagine how happy I am that people like it so far. Hopefully you won't change your minds. I'll need a few chapters to get the story started. Hopefully, Lily and James will make an appearance in the next chapter - or possibly the next after that - depending on how much space Harry will demand of me :) He demanded more than I had planned in this chapter after all. Oh well... here's the chapter...**

Chapter 2: The Hospital Wing

Silence.

When Harry came to, he heard nothing but silence.

Wondering where he was, he looked around and quickly identified the blurry surroundings as those of Hospital Wing. Reaching for his glasses at the bedside table, he put them on and the room became much clearer.

A drape was drawn around four beds. To his left, Ginny was sleeping and across from Harry Ron sat by a bed looking at a sleeping Hermione. The last bed was empty and Harry guessed that it belonged to Ron.

"Ron..." Harry said wincing slightly at how the sound of his voice cut the silence. Ron jumped and when he realised that Harry was awake, he came over and sat by Harry's bed.

"Welcome back, mate." He grinned.

"Is everyone all right?" Harry asked though dreading the answer.

"Well... we are..." Ron answered. " Many are hurt though and we have casualties as well. But... it's over... Ginny's all right, Madam Pomfrey gave her a potion for the after effects of the curse. As soon as she's slept it off, she'll be fine. She should wake up soon. Hermione drained her magic by producing that shield. Madam Pomfrey says she'll be sleeping until her magic has restored itself. Should take a few days."

"Yeah... about that... what did she do? I mean what was that shield? I didn't know she could do that." Harry wondered.

"Don't really know, mate." Ron replied. "She said some incantation but it wasn't anything I've ever heard before. What about you though? I didn't know that you could do wandless magic either."

Harry blinked. "**That's** what it was? I thought it was an accident – like when I blew up my aunt."

"Yeah, maybe it was. You should ask Dumbledore though. Wouldn't it be brilliant if you could do wandless magic?" Ron grinned.

"I guess... Part of me feels really bad about killing him though. " Harry frowned. _He had become a murderer. No..._ He shook his head. _He had saved the Wizarding World and revenged his parents like he was destined to._

"But he deserved it." Ron said.

Harry nodded. "I know... I still feel bad though."

"I know... I killed one too... a death eater. Blasted him beyond recognition. I feel sort of bad too." Ron confessed.

"I guess that's why we're not in Slytherin." Harry said.

"Yeah, " Ron agreed. "It's not like I had much of a choice. Fancy a game of chess while we wait for

Madam Pomfrey? Hopefully she'll discharge us."

"Sure... why not."

However, they did not get to finish the game before the drapes were pulled open and Mr. And Mrs. Weasley, Lupin and a big black dog, much resembling a Grim, came in.

With the drapes open the sounds of the rest of the Hospital Wing could make their way through the obviously charmed drapes and Harry and Ron could hear the crying of wounded children, the sobbing of mourning parents and also the lively chatter of what had happened. They were the sounds of death... and of life, the sounds of a battle won but a price paid in exchange for victory.

As Lupin closed the drapes behind the group, Mrs. Weasley ran teary eyed to hug Ron and inspect him of damage herself. The dog jumped onto Harry's bed and licked him in the face.

"Ew Snuffles, that's disgusting!" Harry protested and pushed the dog a bit away. Snuffles settled on the bed next to Harry's knee and wagged its tail. Lupin laughed as he walked over and sat in the chair next to Harry's bed.

"Are you all right Harry?" He asked and Harry nodded in response.

"We were really worried when we heard about the attack but then we heard what had happened. Merlin, Harry! You did it!" Lupin said and Snuffles barked in agreement. If it is possible for dogs to smile, Harry was certain that's what Snuffles did.

"We thought you might want to see this..." Lupin said and reached into his jacked and pulled out this morning's edition of the Daily Prophet, handing it to Harry."

_THE BOY WHO LIVED DEFEATS YOU KNOW WHO_

The article was accompanied by a large picture of Harry, turning his head and looking up at himself from the newspaper.

_The Boy Who Lived, Harry Potter, 16, fought and defeated You Know Who in a fierce duel yesterday evening when He Who Must Not Be Named attacked Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry where The Boy Who Won currently studies in his sixth year. _

_The battle casualties have yet to be accounted for. However, many death eaters have been caught and will be tried by the Ministry. Others of You Know Who's followers were killed, among those Lucuis Malfoy, Bellatrix LeStrange, Antonin Dolohov, Walden MacNair and Alecto Carrows whose bodies were found on the school grounds. All were clad in death eater robes and bore the characteristic tattoo worn by You Know Who's followers. For these reasons there are no questions of their loyalties to He Who Must Not Be Named._

_At the moment the Ministry is questioning the captives whose identities will be published later."_

Harry finished reading the article and put the paper on the bedside table. Then he looked up and Lupin again.

"Do you know how many were killed? On our side, I mean?" He asked.

"We have not counted yet. It is quite a tragedy though. The school being attacked like that. I have seen about 30 deceased students up until now though." Lupin shook his head sadly.

Harry swallowed. "They... they're not going to close the school, are they?"

Lupin did not have time to reply as the drapes moved aside and the Headmaster entered accompanied by Madam Pomfrey. Dumbledore looked a bit drawn and Madam Pomfrey looked absolutely exhausted.

"No, Harry," Dumbledore said, having apparently overheard Harry's question. "The school is not closing now that Voldemort is gone. Although some parents will undoubtedly send for their children to come home until everything has settled down."

Harry nodded as Madam Pomfrey examined his scar.

"Stay still." She scolded.

"Sir, what was that light Hermione produced?" Harry asked.

"Of what exactly Miss Granger did, I am not certain. I do, however, have several theories. I will need to ask her some questions when she wakes up." Dumbledore replied. "However, I do have some questions for you as well. So if it is fine with Poppy, I would prefer to discuss these matters in my office."

Madam Pomfrey nodded. "You can go, Mr. Potter."

Thanking the school healer, Harry got out of his bed and followed the Headmaster. Lupin and the dog followed too. As they walked out through the drapes and through the Hospital Wing,

Harry took in the sight. Every bed was occupied and the room was crowded with family and friends of the wounded. Outside the Hospital Wing, some seventh year Ravenclaw girls were helping Madam Pomfrey by tending to minor injuries. A lot of people were waiting in line for their turn.

Most of them stared at Harry as he walked by.

Once the door was locked behind them in Dumbledore's office, Sirius transformed and hugged Harry, who smiled at the gesture.

"James would have been so proud of you! Heck, I'm so proud of you." Sirius said, ruffling Harry's hair making it even more messy than usual.

"Thanks Sirius."

"Please take a seat." Professor Dumbledore urged. "This should not take very long. I merely thought Sirius would be more comfortable here. Harry, I just need you to tell me what happened and then you are free to leave."

Harry told of how the death eaters had surrounded them, how Voldemort had appeared and tortured Ginny, how he had gotten angry and let out a surge of magic that had killed Voldemort.

When he finished the story Dumbledore looked contemplative.

"You are a very powerful wizard Harry... Wandless magic is a skill few wizards master. What you experienced was a combination of accidental and wandless magic. However, it shows that you do in fact have the ability to do wandless magic and with practice you should be able to master it." Dumbledore looked at Harry over his half-moon shaped spectacles.

"James could do wandless magic..." Sirius said quietly.

Dumbledore nodded. "I suspected as much. It runs in the family... On a different subject, the press will be wanting to interview you about your accomplishments. You might want to think about what you are going to tell them."

Harry sighed. Talking to reporters was one of the last things he wanted right now.

"That is all." Dumbledore said. "You can leave now, if you wish."

"Thank you." Harry said as he got up. He looked at Sirius as he added. " I think I'll go for a fly."

Sirius nodded though looking slightly disappointed. "Yes, I think Moony and I should return to Headquarters anyway. You still have the mirror, right? Then I'm always only a call away."

Harry nodded and said goodbye before heading for the Quidditch Pitch to clear his head.


	3. The Voice in the Wind

**A/N This was a hard chapter to write - so I hope you like it. I will be going on vacation this Saturday, but not to worry - vacation doesn't mean I won't be working on my story. And luckily my vacation consists of several small vacations, so I will be able to come home and update in between the vacationing. I'm hoping for an update around Wednesday or Thursday next week. **

Chapter 3: The Voice in the Wind

Harry soared into the sky, enjoying the feeling of freedom and the way the wind toyed with his robes. Here, he was just Harry. Not The Boy Who Lived, not The Boy Who Defeated Voldemort or whatever else they called him these days.

After having circled the pitch for some time, he turned and flew over the lake. There were small waves on the surface so he could not see his own reflection. He flew close to the surface when a tentacle suddenly reached up for him. Preferring not to play tag with the Giant Squid, he ascended out of its reach.

He could hardly understand it. Ever since he had started at Hogwarts, he had been hunted and, though most of the time unknowingly, he had carried the weight of the world on his shoulders. But now he had fulfilled the prophecy and he hoped that perhaps life would be a bit more normal now. Turning away from the lake, he flew over the treetops of the Forbidden Forest, taking in the scent of wet pine needles. The air was moist and the approaching winter could be felt in the chilly wind.

All of a sudden, the wind died.

Surprised, Harry stopped his broom and hovered over the forest. Then, a gush of wind started blowing from a completely different direction, nearly knocking him off the broom. The wind played with the treetops as Harry regained his balance. Then he heard something...

There was a whisper in the wind... Harry strained his ears to hear what it said. It was a soothing female voice, sounding much like an old lady. The words grew clearer. It was slowly and repeatedly whispering his name as the force of the voice grew until he could easily hear the words. Then it became quiet for a moment as if to insure his attention before continuing.

_Completely defeated was Serpent by Lion_

_Reward must be treated to Gryffindor's scion_

_Pain and love let you win in the end_

_One over other will you need to mend_

_And act of pure heart our powers invoked_

_Our gift is this: Serpent's bites are revoked._

The voice faded into the wind and everything was quiet. Again, the wind died down and then returned from the direction it had originally come from.

Puzzled, Harry hovered above the forest for a little while longer, then turned and sped back to the school.

As he flew he thought about what he had heard.

_Had he even heard anything? Was his mind playing a trick on him? Was it a prophecy? Merlin, please not another prophecy; He just got rid of the other one! He was fairly sure it was about himself and Voldemort - but what was that about a reward and serpent's bites? Should he tell Dumbledore what had happened?_

Hermione's voice tuned into his head. _"Even in the Wizarding World hearing voices isn't a good sign."_

_But I wasn't crazy then_, he mentally argued back.

_You've been through a lot lately. People will think that you have finally cracked. Wait... See if anything else happens. If nothing happens, then no-one will need to know. If something does happen, you can talk to Dumbledore._ Yes, that was it. For the time being, he was not going to tell anyone of his experience.

* * *

A few days later, there was a press conference in the Great Hall. Harry had insisted on waiting until Hermione was discharged as he had asked Ron, Hermione and Ginny to join him in facing the reporters. Hermione had only been discharged half an hour before and Dumbledore had been talking to her, so she had not really had a chance to talk to her friends. Now, they were waiting in the back room where the Triwizard Tournament Champions had been taken two years earlier. Out in the Great Hall they could hear Dumbledore asking for order before presenting them. 

Harry was the first to enter the Great Hall and he was nearly blinded by all the camera flashes that went off the instant he opened the door. His friends followed him and they stood next to each other in front of the reporters. Harry and Ron stood in the middle with Hermione on Ron's side and Ginny on Harry's.

"Mr. Potter! Is it true that you cast the Torture curse on You-Know-Who?"

"Harry, did you really face You-Know-Who all alone?"

"Harry! Look over here please!"

The reporters' questions filled the Hall.

"Listen..." Harry said loudly. "Here's how we will do this: I will tell my version of the battle, you will listen and let me finish before asking any questions."

The Great Hall became rather quiet then as the reporters settled to listen to what Harry said. The doors to the Great Hall were crowded with curious students.

"These are my friends, Ron Weasley, Hermione Granger and Ginny Weasley." Harry began, ignoring the confused looks of the reporters. "Without them I had not been able to kill Voldemort. They stood by me in battle and covered my back so I did not have to worry about death eaters too. They deserve the title as hero much more than I do. I was born to this destiny - they chose it themselves."

The reporters blinked for a moment as silence filled the Hall. Then they began furiously taking pictures and Harry told of the attack and how they had been surrounded, leading to his duel with Voldemort and ultimately how Harry had won.

When he finished his story, the reporters began firing questions at all four of them. One question in particular caught Harry's interest.

"Miss Granger, what was that shield you conjured?" A young man from the Daily Prophet asked.

Hermione looked a bit overwhelmed at the attention, but quickly recovered.

"It was not a shield per se." She explained. "It was a ward. Being muggleborn I have no family wards and with things as they were I wanted to be prepared for a possible emergency. So I studied some books on ancient magic and found a way to make a ward of my own."

The reporters continued asking questions for a while, but when they began to move away from the subject, Harry ended the conference. The next morning the headline read:

_Harry Potter credits friends for defeating Voldemort_

The four friends read the article and concluded that the reporters for once had not twisted the story.

As Harry shovelled eggs onto his plate, Hermione leafed through the newspaper.

"That's strange." She commented. "Listen to this:"

_Mystery Muggle Baffles Aurors and Muggle Police_

_Yesterday afternoon, an old muggle man walked into a police station (similar to our aurors) and reported that he had been attacked and possibly kidnapped. The man, Frank Bryce, works as a caretaker for an old house and upon inspecting a "strange light", he was attacked by a man who, in Mr. Bryce's own words, "shot green light at him". The man claims that this is the last thing he remembers before waking up in said house. He claims he must have been kidnapped as the attack took place more than a year ago. The curious part is that there is no known curse with such properties and there is only one curse which produces a green light - and Mr. Bryce would certainly not wake up after being hit by that._

As Hermione read the last sentence, Harry choked on his eggs. When he had finished coughing and spluttering he lowered his voice so only his friends could hear what he said.

"That sounds like an old man I saw Voldemort kill in a vision at the beginning of fourth year. It fits the time too..."

"Come on, Harry - all that's over... He's probably just some nutter who made up a good story." Ron insured him.

However, Harry could not shake the uneasy feeling. The words of the whispers in the wind kept echoing in his head. _Serpent's bites are revoked._

"I'm going to see Dumbledore..." He announced as he got up from the table, abandoning his half eaten eggs.

* * *

After finally guessing the password to Dumbledore's office, Harry raced up the stairs. In his hurry he forgot to knock and simply barged into the room. 

Dumbledore was sitting at his desk and looked unsurprised.

"Harry?"

"Sorry, Sir..." said Harry. "I have to talk to you."

Dumbledore merely raised his eyebrows and indicated for Harry to take a seat.

"Well..." Harry continued. "the other day after we had talked, I went for a fly. I flew over the forest, but then all of a sudden there was a voice in the wind. It said something... I don't remember the exact words, but it said something about me killing Voldemort and something about a reward."

"I see..." Dumbledore nodded, looking as if in a way he had expected this. Then he got up and walked over to a cupboard and retrieved his pensieve. "Perhaps you will let me view this experience?"

Harry agreed and allowed Dumbledore to extract the memory. Then Dumbledore dived into the memory and Harry waited.

Finally, about 5 minutes later, Dumbledore re-emerged looking decisive. He sat down again.

"Tell me, Harry, if you were to look in the Mirror of Erised today, would the reflection have changed?"

"I don't think so, Sir." Harry replied, puzzled by the question.

"Harry, I do not know if you are aware of it, but I, myself, defeated a dark wizard in my younger days." Dumbledore said. "And I, myself, had a similar experience afterwards. Have you ever heard of the Superi?"

Harry shook his head no.

"The Superi are magical forces of nature. They control everything that we humans think of as nature laws."

"Like gods, Sir?" Harry asked.

Dumbledore chuckled slightly. "No, not exactly gods, Harry... though I believe some muggles use that term. The Superi are nature spirits... Under normal circumstances they keep to themselves, but once in a while they take action and it seems that they have decided to reward you for your accomplishments.

"How so?" Harry wondered.

Dumbledore's eyes twinkled noticably. "I do not wish to get your hopes up in vain... though..."

"For once, tell me..." Harry urged. He had been kept in the dark so often before. At least this time he should be told. "A reward would be something good - right?"

Dumbledore sighed. "Very well... I cannot be sure Harry... but I think the Superi are bringing the people Voldemort has personally killed back to life."

Harry heard his pulse thundering in his ears and he let out a laugh. He felt a sudden need to sing, to dance and to shout out the windows. His face grew hotter, then suddenly the feeling evaporated.

"Don't get carried away there, Harry." Dumbledore said. He had performed some charm on Harry.

"Emotional overdrive can be quite dangerous. I have put a calming charm on you. It will last until tomorrow. I am aware that it is only just after breakfast, but I think you will find sleeping much needed. And tomorrow morning, I will know more."

Harry did not find this odd at all. In fact, he was feeling rather content and indifferent to everything around him. As he opened the door to leave, Tonks' head appeared in Dumbledore's fireplace.

"Albus, Cedric Diggory has been found wandering around a muggle town. He's in St. Mungos."

Harry did not think there was anything unusual about the statement. Tonks might as well have said that Dumbledore's new cauldron had arrived. And so Harry closed the door behind him and headed back to Gryffindor tower to sleep as Dumbledore had told him to.

**A/N That was all the explaining - next chapter you'll meet Lily, James and some other characters whose identities will be a surprise a little longer. **


	4. Godric's Hollow

**A/N Hi again everyone! Here's the next chapter as promised. It's evening on July 5th here now. I hope to find time to type in another chapter tomorrow morning. Until then, enjoy :)**

Chapter 4: Godric's Hollow

Sirius stared at the stew in front of him. He could not believe what he had heard at the emergency order meeting earlier. After such a meeting, Sirius was not really hungry. Actually, he had a rather strange feeling in his stomach and he did not want to risk what might happen if he mixed the feeling with food.

The meeting had been small as most of the order members had not been able to show up on such short notice. Sirius, of course, had no other obligations. Dumbledore had told them that Cedric Diggory was alive and feeling well – though naturally he was rather shocked. Dumbledore had then told them what had happened on Harrys flying trip and how Harry thought there was a connection to the old muggle man in the newspaper.

Finally, Dumbledore had told them his theory and that was when Sirius' heart broke anew and healed in a matter of seconds. Remus had been pale and quiet, Sirius had asked a lot of questions.

If Dumbledore was correct – and he usually was – the change to the lives of Remus and Sirius would be immense – and that would be nothing compared to the change to Harry's life.

If Dumbledore was wrong, the pain would be unbearable for all of them and Sirius wasn't sure he could handle that.

At the moment, Sirius was waiting. Dumbledore had given him a small, red stone which would light up if any magic was done at Godric's Hollow. If the stone glowed, it would be Sirius' mission to go there and see if Lily and James could be found.

That evening, Remus had a different, yet very related mission so Sirius was alone.

They did not know when it would happen – IF it did happen at all. Sirius stared hopefully at the small stone. Nothing happened. Abandoning all hope of dinner, he left his plate in the sink, picked up the small stone and went to his study to read.

The clock in the study chimed 11 PM and woke Sirius up. He had fallen asleep while reading. Glancing at the red stone, he realised that there was no way at all that he could know if it had glowed while he had been asleep. Mentally scolding himself, he got up and put the book back in the bookcase.

Suddenly, the room changed colour as if it was bathed in a marvellous sunset. Shielding his eyes, Sirius turned. His heart leaped with joy as he saw the red stone glowing so brightly that it looked like a miniature sun in an Astronomy model. Then, it extinguished.

"Bloody hell..." Sirius pocketed the stone and disapparated.

Pushing common courtesy aside for the moment, Sirius apparated directly into the corridor of Lily and James' house at Godric's Hollow. Everything was covered in a blanket of dust – almost to the point of making the floors look carpeted.

Sirius stiffened when he heard a moan from the living room. He hurried through the corridor, into the living room... and had to throw himself out of the way as a yellow light shot towards him and hit the door frame which burst into flames.

"Bloody hell! What was that for?" he exclaimed, dusting himself off from his unexpected encounter with the floor.

"Padfoot?" A man was in a crumbled heap in the middle of the living room. His voice was low and strained.

"Yes, it's me.." Sirius went to the man who tried to sit up but collapsed back onto the floor. Blood was rapidly forming a large stain on the chest of the man's robes.

Seeing this, Sirius resolutely ripped the robes open and cast a healing spell on the wound beneath. It closed somewhat and the bleeding slowed.

"Padfoot... he... he went upstairs... Lily... Harry... Oh, Merlin... Check on them... don't mind me..." he muttered.

"I'm patching you up first... If you're fine, then Lily's fine too. And Harry's safe..." Sirius said as he applied the healing spell again and the wound reduced itself to an angry, red line.

Then, he dug into his pocket and retrieved a vial of potion which Dumbledore had given him. He handed it to James.

"Here – drink this."

"What is it?" James' glasses were shattered on the floor, so Sirius knew he could only tell the colour of the potion.

"It's for the after effects of the Cruciatus." Sirius explained as he waved his wand at James' glasses. "Reparo. Accio glasses." He handed them to James who put them on and blinked at Sirius.

"Sirius... you're... what happened?" He gaped as he took the potion.

"Later – I need to check on Lily." Sirius said. There had been no injuries on Lily Potter's body that night so she should be fine.

He walked up the stairs and towards the nursery where Lily had been found. He had not even gotten to the door yet when he heard a frantic sobbing.

Sirius opened the door and pushed the pain away as he entered the charred nursery.

Lily lay on the blackened floor and her body shook with each sob as she cradled a stuffed toy dog to her chest. Sirius winced, he had given Harry that dog when he was born. He had bought it because it looked like Padfoot. Of course Lily didn't know that.

Sirius squatted next to Lily and put a hand on her shoulder. Lily jumped at the gesture and looked up to see who it was. Her eyes were swollen and red, contrasting sharply with her green eye colour.

She did not seem to notice that Sirius had aged 15 years – she just hugged him and wept into his shoulder.

"He killed them..." she sobbed. "James... and Harry... my baby..."

"They're fine, Lily," Sirius patted her on the back a bit awkwardly, not knowing what else to do. He was not used to Lily crying. "James is downstairs and Harry's not here, but he's fine."

Lily quieted mid-sob and looked up at Sirius.

"But how? I was holding him a moment ago and now he's gone? The room is all charred..."

Sirius sighed. "I think I should tell you both that story. So how about we go downstairs and join James?"

Lily nodded as she sniffed and wiped her eyes. Sirius took her hand and hoisted her off the floor. She was still clutching the stuffed toy dog tightly.

When they entered the living room, James had managed to get up and sit himself on the couch.

"James!" Lily shrieked and ran to him. When she saw the large brown blood stain on the front of his originally dark red robes, she pulled at them, trying to find the wound.

"I'm fine.. Sirius healed it..." James calmed her. She hugged him tightly. James stroked her hair and looked up at Sirius.

"So where's Harry?"

Sirius sat down in a dusty armchair.

"First of all, there is something else you should know. I don't really know how to say this, so I guess I'll just say it: Fifteen years have passed since Voldemort attacked you. You both died that night – I saw you - but somehow you've returned."

James blinked. "What?"

But Lily had turned to look at him. She cupped his face in her hands. "You look older..." she smiled sadly. "You too, Sirius."

James sighed. "Why now? Why not sooner? What about Harry?"

He looked like he had not really absorbed the fact that he had been dead.

"Harry survived that night. He's 16 now... He defeated Voldemort less than a week ago. Apparently you being back has to do with that. A reward for Harry of sorts."

"Where is he? Can we see him?"

"He's at Hogwarts. It's midnight by now, so I'm sure he's sleeping. We should wait for morning to come." Sirius hated being the sensible one.

"What house is he in? Does he play Quidditch?"

"What's his favorite subject? Does he have a girlfriend?"

"Did he do some good pranks on the Slytherins?" James all of a sudden did not seem so weary anymore.

Jus then a silvery transparent owl appeared as it it had apparated. Sirius pointed his wand at it and the owl dissolved into a string which disappeared into Sirius' wand. Sirius smiled at Remus' message. Then he turned to James and Lily and smiled.

"Turns out you'll get to see Harry sooner than I thought.. Lily, you'll have to floo. James, you'll side-along apparate with me."

James looked up. "Where are we going?"

Sirius grinned. "Home..:"


	5. Potter Manor

Chapter 5: Potter Manor

_He was walking through a wheat field as he enjoyed the warm summer air and the beautiful golden colour of the ripe crops. Suddenly, Ginny was standing there in the middle of the field and she smiled at him as he walked towards her. When he reached her, she took his hand and guided him out of the field and up a grass covered hill. On top of the hill there was a tree and they embraced under it and cuddled in the green light... They sat down and just looked at each other. Harry looked at her captivating, smiling mouth and licked his lips. Then he moved closer and she... shook him?_

Surprised, Harry blinked as the dream faded. The dormitory was dark still but he could just make out a figure.

"Schhh..." It hushed him as he opened his mouth to scold the person for ruining his lovely dream. Harry found his glasses on the night stand and as he put them on, the figure became identifiable.

"Professor Lupin?" he whispered.

"Get dressed, Harry, I need your help with something." Lupin whispered back. At once, Harry was more awake and he scrambled out of his bed, grabbed some used robes from the pile on the floor and pulled them on.

Harry followed Lupin out of the dormitory, down the stairs, out of the portrait hole and through the castle. When they left the castle, his curiosity got the better of him.

"Professor? Where are we going?"

Lupin smiled mysteriously. "You'll see... but please call me Remus... I'm not going to teach again anytime soon and Padfoot has taking to calling me 'Professor Moony'"

"Oh... sorry... so, Remus..." Harry tested the new title. "We did not get to talk much last time. How are you?"

"Much the same. I've been spending my time keeping Padfoot company – and the other way around."

"On full moon too?"

"Yes, we can't very well go out in London, but the dungeon at Grimmauld Place is good for the purpose. Even with the Wolfsbane Potion, it's nice to have Padfoot around." Remus smiled sadly.

Harry smiled in agreement as they left the school grounds. Then Remus stopped.

"This is far enough. We'll apparate, Harry, so hold on to my arm, please."

Harry grabbed hold and felt the castle fade from view as he could not breathe. Suddenly, it was over and he swayed a bit as he let go of Remus and took in his surroundings.

They were in the woods. There was a small lake and a stone wall which ran along a dirt road.

"This way..." Remus led Harry towards a large stone that stood in front of the stone wall.

"Tap the stone with your wand." Remus said and Harry did as instructed. A crack appeared in the top of the stone and it quickly expanded to a round hole.

Surprised, Harry looked at Remus, who pulled his own wand and conjured a small knife and gave it to Harry.

"Three drops of blood into the hole. It must be yours. I cannot do it."

Harry frowned. "What exactly are we doing?"

"You'll see in a moment – it's far easier to show than to explain."

Sighing at Remus' secrecy, Harry closed his hand around the knife and pulled it out quickly, wincing as the blade cut into the palm of his hand. Then he held his hand over the hole and let three drops fall into it. As soon as the third drop had disappeared into the hole, a beam of golden light shot up from it. The beam glowed for a moment, then disappeared.

When Harry removed his eyes from the stone, a set of elegant iron gates had appeared in the stone wall. Behind the closed gates were a gravel path lined with trees. The path led up to a large white house with an equally large flowerbed in front. Harry gaped and looked questioningly at Remus who grinned.

"Welcome, Harry, to Potter Manor!"

Harry's eyes widened as Remus opened the gate and they walked through.

"What? But my parents lived at Godric's Hollow." Harry said as Remus walked quickly up the driveway. Remus nodded.

"James' parents were killed by Voldemort in our seventh year. He sealed it off to protect it from damage of war. He planned to return when the war was over."

Harry stood still for a while and watched Remus walk. Then he realised something and ran after him.

"Did you just say they were killed by Voldemort?" He asked as he caught up with Remus outside the door. Remus nodded and tapped the door with his wand. The lock clicked and Remus walked in followed by Harry.

"But then... wow..." Harry gaped.

The room inside was large.On either side of the room, a staircase went up and the two stairs merged in the middle for about 10 steps before parting again. The floor was parquet and on each side at the bottom of the stairs double doors were open. In the middle of the room, where the stairs met, there was a large fireplace. Harry wondered how it could be vented.

The only thing that broke the symmetry of the room was the big scorch mark on the floor at the bottom of the left staircase.

"Mr. Potter?" Remus called. No answer.

"It's Remus Lupin, James' friend..."

"Mr. Potter?" They walked through the left side double doors and into an elegant dining room.

Harry did not know what to think. On one hand Remus was walking through a house calling out for his grandfather. On the other, this house was full of his family history and he wanted to look at every object he passed. _Wait..._ no matter how he looked at it, this was brilliant!

He followed Remus through the dining room and through a door in the left side of the room.Harry walked right into Remus as he stopped in the doorway.

"Ooof!"

"Oh, so sorry Harry." Remus moved aside. They were looking into a kitchen with a smaller dining table. On one of the chairs sat an elderly man with unruly white hair which stuck up at odd angles at the back. His midnight blue robes were torn over a wound on his shoulder and his wife seemed to be trying to heal it with her left hand as her right arm dangled uselessly – obviously broken.

"Mrs. Potter, please do sit down – I'll fix that." Remus offered, indicating Mr. Potter's wound.

Harry was still standing in the doorway as Remus went to work healing the wound.

"Hello dear." The elderly lady said, bringing Harry out of his stupor. He stared at her.

"Er... hello..."

"And who are you?" She corrected her braided hair which had a funny yellowish colour.

"Erm...I'm Harry Potter..." Harry glanced sideways at Remus who had just produced a silvery, transparent owl out of his wand. It disappeared with a crack.

"Mrs. Potter, I was hoping you could look after Harry for a moment. We'll have someone over to fix that arm soon. Mr. Potter, if you will join me in the hall:"

Mr. Potter nodded and got up to leave with Remus.

"Wait!" Mrs. Potter said rather firmly. "You are not going anywhere, Remus, until you tell me what is going on. One moment I have Voldemort in my kitchen and the next Edward is hurt and you and this boy walks in. Edward is older, you're older and Harry here is around James' age. I want an explanation."

Harry blinked surprisedly at the elderly woman. Remus looked rather calm.

"You are older," he said. "because 19 years ago, you were both killed by Voldemort. James and his wife were killed four years later, but Harry, their son, survived. A few days ago, Harry here rid the world of Voldemort and as an after effect you've been brought back."

The elderly woman blinked. "James is dead?" she whispered.

"Yes, but just as you are here, I am certain he will be too:" Remus assured her.

She nodded vaguely and looked at Harry. "So you're my grandson then?"

"I guess..." Harry shrugged uncertainly. "I was only one when it happened, so I don't really remember my parents."

"Oh dear, that's terrible! I'll stay with Harry, Remus, don't you worry."

"Thank you..." Remus smiled encouragingly at Harry before leaving with Mr. Potter.

There was a moment of awkward silence as Harry stood there alone with his newly-brought-back-from-the-dead grandmother.

"Erm... doesn't that hurt?" He indicated her right arm, which she was cradling in her left.

"Never you mind that. I'll be fine." She answered as she walked over to a bookcase. Harry could tell she was in pain, but he did not know how to heal a broken arm and he knew from experience that he could make it much worse if he just tried..

"Would you like to see some pictures?" she asked.

"Er... sure... as long as they're not all of cats." Harry grimaced.

"Why would I show you pictures of cats?" Mrs. Potter looked puzzled as she managed with some difficulty to pull out a leather bound book. However, she dropped it on the floor.

"Let me get that." Harry picked up the book and sat at the table. She sat down next to him, letting the broken arm rest on the table.

She opened the book, which turned out to be a photo album.

"Now this is your father right after he was born..."

* * *

**A/N Now, now, before you all start throwing things at me, I know JKR said James' parents died of some wizarding disease. However, it doesn't really say so in the books - and this is an AU fic... so I thought I was allowed. Bear with me - I only want the best for Harry...  
After about 12 hour home,I depart onvacation again - expect the next update in the middle of next week.**

**Bobmin356:** _Sorry you think the chapters are too short. Think of it this way... If I had made the first 4 chapters one long chapter, then my updates would be a very long time apart. And that's not fun either, is it?That's all I can say... glad you like my story enough to want longer chapters._

**Everyone else, thanks for the nice reviews. And thanks a lot for reading. I hope you still like it - despite the small twist in this chapter.**


	6. Parents and sons

**A/N: I revised this chapter at a request to elaborate more on Sirius' story and the reaction of James and Lily. Since I'm telling this chapter from James' POV, you'll see his reaction. Hope it's better :-)**

Chapter 6: Parents and Sons

"What do you mean 'home'?" James frowned. "I raised the ancient wards years ago. You can't apparate or floo through them."

Sirius grinned. "True – but I think you're forgetting that you're not the only Potter anymore. The message was from Remus, he took Harry there to take down the wards. And he found your parents alive inside."

James' mind swam. Being a wizard, he believed he was more open-minded to strange news than most – especially muggles – but this was a lot to take in. In what, to James, seemed like only a few minutes, fifteen years had been cut out of his life. In the blink of an eye, his son was almost grown and his parents had come back alive. James shook his head as if the action could physically force the thoughts out of his head. He'd have to process later. Right now, he needed to see his family.

"James?" Lily poked his arm gently and brought him out of his thoughts.

"Huh? Oh... right... Lily, you floo to 'Potter Manor', Sirius will apparate me there." He kissed her quickly and she nodded. Then James caught hold of Sirius' arm and they disapparated.

* * *

The hall was exactly as he remembered it from his childhood. Except for the nasty scorch mark on the beautiful floor. Unlike Godric's Hollow, Potter Manor did not show any signs that nobody had lived there for 19 years. 

The house elves must have kept it clean and in good shape. James had sent them to work at Hogwarts while the house was shut down, but it seemed that they had found time to take care of the house as well.

"James!" And elderly voice said as the dining room door opened. James had never thought he would hear that voice again.

"Dad..." James' father walked over and pulled him into a hug.

"Are you all right, son?" he asked when James swayed and steadied himself against Sirius.

"I'll be fine, dad, don't worry. I just need some rest." James assured him. Then his eyes fell on the person who stood a few steps behind his father.

"Moony!"

Remus grinned and embraced his old friend. "Prongs..:" Remus hugged him tighter than he had expected.

"I'm so sorry Moony. I thought you were the spy... I just didn't think Peter could... I should have known... I mean... a rat?" James muttered and Remus patted his shoulder.

"Don't worry about it James. None of us thought Peter could do something like that."

"I'll kill the little rat when I find him." Sirius growled. Remus glanced at Sirius and let go of James.

"James, Harry's in the dining kitchen with your mother. I believe he would like to see..:"

"Oooof!" Remus was interrupted as Lily tumbled out of the fireplace rather ungracefully. Grumbling to herself, she got up from the floor and brushed the soot off her green robes.

"Remus!" she exclaimed when she looked up and went to hug her friend.

"Dad, this is Lily – my wife." James grinned as Lily let go of Remus.

"Lily, hmmm? The one you chased, eh?" James' father raised his eyebrows teasingly at James. "I remember you wrote to us about courting her."

"Yep! Got through to her eventually..."

"Oh, I think it can be discussed who got through to who. Hello, Mr. Potter." Lily smiled and shook Mr. Potter's hand.

"Well then, welcome to the family – although it is a bit late. I do suggest you both go to the kitchen now, I believe my grandson would like to see his parents."

James leaned on Sirius as they walked towards the kitchen. Lily followed impatiently and James was sure she was close to putting a speed charm on him.

"JAMES!"

"HARRY!"

The moment James walked through the door, something large bumped into him at full speed. As James staggered and Sirius caught him, Lily slipped around them and into the kitchen. It was his mother who was clinging to him. James realised the hug lacked its usual strength and noticed his mother's broken arm. He opened his mouth to say something but his attention was drawn by something else.

Lily was hugging a teenage boy who looked so much like himself that James for a fleeting moment felt he had floated out of his body and was watching himself.

Lily sobbed as she clung to the boy who looked at James and Sirius with a slightly panicked expression. James chuckled slightly as he let go of Sirius and walked over to his wife and son.

Coming to Harry's rescue, he rubbed his wife's back and loosened her grip on Harry slightly. Lily's sobs quieted somewhat. Then he pulled both his wife and Harry into his arms.

Harry seemed to stiffen for a moment, then he relaxed and rested his head on James' shoulder.

"Harry..." he whispered. "Sweet Merlin you're so grown!"

Harry didn't say anything, but he tightened his arm around James as if he thought James would disappear into thin air if he let go. James winced slightly as Harry's arm pressed on the sore muscles on his back. He was still very sore from the Cruciatus Curse. It did not matter now. James looked down at Harry's messy hair on his shoulder. He ruffled it affectionately and stroked Lily's arm.

"It'll be alright now..." he whispered as much to himself as to the two others. "Everything will be fine."

Lily sniffed and pulled away. James watched as she moved a hand over Harry's hair, pausing to run a finger over a scar on his forehead. Harry shivered slightly at the touch. Lily was looking at their son through still teary eyes and then James realised that this was the mark Harry had gotten that night.

Suddenly, Lily let out a gasp as she grabbed Harry's left hand. Across his palm was a fresh wound which was still bleeding.

"Oh..." Harry said sheepishly. "I forgot..."

"What happened?" Lily asked but James already knew the answer.

"Three drops of blood... you opened up the house..." James felt proud. It was rather silly – Harry was his son so of course the wards would accept him. But it still made James feel proud. Harry looked at him curiously and Lily frowned.

"Blood for wards? Isn't that a bit barbaric?"

"It's ancient wards – and it's effective." James shrugged.

Lily apparently didn't care to discuss that, because she did not reply. Instead she drew her wand and moved it over the cut which quickly knittet itself together and disappeared.

"Thank you." Harry said and then added: "Mum..:"

Lily smiled at her son.

"Oh!" she exclaimed as she seemed to remember something. Then she went to the door and retrieved the toy dog from the floor where she must have dropped it when she first entered the kitchen.

"This is yours." She gave the toy to Harry who took it with raised eyebrows and looked amusedly at Sirius.

James wondered if Harry knew that the toy dog looked like Padfoot. Growing up with Sirius, he might know... but then again, James lived with Lily and she didn't know. But the way Harry looked at Sirius suggested he knew. Deciding he'd find out soon anyway, James started asking some of the million questions that were zooming in and out of his mind.

"So, Harry, let's catch up... What house are you in? Do you play Quidditch?" James asked and beamed at his son. Harry, however, paled slightly.

"Uh..." Sirius said. "I doubt anyone will sleep tonight, so how about we have something to eat while we talk? It will be a long story:"

"Always thinking about food, eh, Padfoot? – It sounds good though..." James chuckled as he waved his wand and the air filled with plates, goblets, forks and knives as they floated to the table and landed neatly on a Gryffindor-red table cloth.

At that moment, Remus and James' father re-entered the kitchen and James turned to Lily to see if she would conjure some dinner. However, Lily was busy fixing his mother's arm. Lily had begun training to become a healer after they had graduated, but she had to take a break when they expected Harry – and with all the mess of Voldemort and going into hiding, she had never returned.

It only took Lily five minutes to fix Mrs. Potter's arm. After she was done, the two women conjured wine, roast beef, potatoes, yorkshire pudding and peas.

James' father pulled out the chair for James' mother before he went to his own seat at the other end of the table. James did the same for Lily and took his own seat between his father and Lily. On the opposite side of the table, Harry sat between Sirius and Remus.

When everyone had filled their plates and goblets, Remus said softly. "James, perhaps we should begin our story with that Christmas in seventh year?"

"Perhaps we should begin with you, dad?" James said, addressing his father. "What happened that evening?"

"Well..." Mr. Potter began, looking at Harry. "It was in the middle of December. I was decorating the hall for Christmas when the front door suddenly burst open. And there was Voldemort. He said he would kill my family if I did not join his followers. I refused. Then he tried the Imperius Curse on me, but I was able to resist. We duelled a bit – he toyed with me. He got me in the shoulder with a cutting jinx and then I couldn't hold on to my wand. Then there was a green light and all went dark."

James shut his eyes and hung his head for a moment. Listening to this tore at his heart. It was going to be a long night. When he looked back up, his eyes connected with Harry's and he saw the same pain reflected there. _Merlin, I swear I will get those eyes to smile again..._

"I was baking in the kitchen..." James' mother continued. "I had heard the duel, of course, and I was waiting behind the door. Got the bastard with a boil hex, but then he disarmed me, breaking my arm where the curse hit. He began firing Unforgivables at me, but I managed to dodge them. I was right by the plate shelves, so I started throwing the plates at him. When I ran out of plates, I took whatever else I could get my hands on. I hoped I could stall long enough for help to arrive. I got him right over the head with a cauldron..."

James could not help sniggering at the mental image of his mother whacking Voldemort over the head with a cauldron. Harry had a look on his face that clearly showed that he thought he had the most brilliant grandma in the world.

"It became exhausting..." Mrs. Potter continued. "I could not keep dodging his curses and in the end he got me."

"I was pulled out of Transfiguration and Dumbledore told me." James said as his heart hurt again. "Sirius and I went here and cleaned up a bit – mostly repaired all your broken plates, mum, and then I sealed the house off with the ancient wards, so it would make it through the war and not get ruined by death eaters."

"We spent that Christmas at my place. The Marauders and Lily." Sirius said. "It was a rather depressing Christmas..."

"After graduation, I pulled Lily outside for a moment and asked her to marry me. I couldn't believe my luck when she said yes." James said, feeling much better about this happier subject.

"Yes, I had to repeat myself several times before you believed it." Lily laughed. "And then you ran into the Great Hall, interrupting Dumbledore's speech and shouted it out to everyone!"

James blushed slightly and Lily kissed the side of his head.

"We got married the next spring." She continued the story. "And the following Christmas I found out I was pregnant."

"That's when I started liking Christmas again." James smiled.

"Anyway, Harry was born on July 31st. When he had just turned a year, Dumbledore told us of the prophecy." She looked sad as she quoted the prophecy to her in-laws. Everyone else knew it better than they wanted to. Then Lily told of how they had gone into hiding and what had happened that Halloween.

James was a bit worried when he saw how pale Harry was. However, the colour of Harry's face soon changed to red when Sirius told how he had discovered that Peter was the traitor.

James felt strangely numb as Sirius told them how he had found James and Lily dead in the house. It was as if his brain knew that a person would never have to listen to the story of their own death and therefore said brain could not decide how he should feel about it.

Sirius' voice was rather quiet and sad as he explained how he had found Harry in the charred house and how Hagrid had showed up and had taken Harry on Dumbledore's orders.

"It was stupid... I could think of nothing but killing Peter – but I shouldn't have gone after him. I should have stayed with Harry. If I hadn't been so rash then everything would be different." Sirius shook his head and looked at James with such intense pain in his eyes that James was surprised.

"I would have done the same, Padfoot." He comforted his best friend. "I'd kill him in an instant now, too, should I meet that flee-infested piece of vermin."

"I cornered him on a street full of muggles. He started shouting about how I killed you and then he blew up the street, killing thirteen muggles and fled into the sewers." Sirius explained, looking directly at James and not paying any attention to the fact that Lily and James' parents looked rather confused. "It all went wrong James... Nothing turned out like it was supposed to. No-one knew we had switched secret keepers so everyone thought I was the spy. And they thought that I'd killed Peter and the muggles. They sent me to Azkaban – I never got a trial."

James felt as if someone had punched him hard in the stomach. Then he felt his anger rising slowly.

"How long?" he asked quietly, somehow knowing that the answer would not be as pleasant as he hoped. He could see it in Sirius' eyes. It had not just been a fortnight or so. It had to have been around a year.

"Twelve years." said Sirius darkly.

Twelve? TWELVE years? James had visited Azkaban once on Auror duty. He could not imagine the horror of being a prisoner there – without a wand to protect you – doomed to relive the horrors of their life over and over again – and with no happiness to outweigh the sadness. James' mission had only required that he stayed a few hours. It had taken a week and Lily's constant nurturing to get him back to normal. He could not even imagine what twelve years could do to you.

His pain for his friend gave way to anger. How could they do that to Sirius! Sirius had always been his best mate and everyone knew how loyal they were to each other. How could anyone be STUPID enough to think Sirius would do such a thing!

Not really paying attention to the fact that he had jumped up and the table had begun to shake, James grabbed his goblet and flung it across the room with an "AAARGH!"

The goblet hit the wall with a bang and the sound brought James out of his temper. He shook his head and looked at his family. They were all staring at him wide-eyed while holding onto the larger, more fragile objects on the table.

"Er... sorry..." he muttered and ran a hand through his hair sheepishly. He sat down and summoned his goblet. "Merlin, Sirius, I'm so sorry..."

"It was my fault..." Sirius lowered his head. "If I hadn't suggested switching secret keepers then none of this would have happened."

James got a sudden urge to clout him over the head. "What are you talking about? That doesn't make anything your fault! You didn't know! If anything it's MY fault! I should have realised! I never really considered that it could be Peter! And I should have defended my family better! It's my fault... I failed..." James yelled as he rose again– surely Sirius must realise that.

"If I hadn't suspected Remus then you wouldn't have either!" Sirius roared as he, too, stood up. "I should have stayed secret keeper when I wasn't sure who the spy was. Atleast then I would have known you were safe!"

"You can't be blamed for that! We both thought it was the perfect plan!" James retorted. He could not believe Sirius was doing this to himself. " And I couldn't even hold off Voldemort long enough to protect..."

"It's my fault..." a voice interrupted quietly.

Both James and Sirius froze and looked in the direction from where it had come. Harry was staring down at the table and looking utterly crushed.

"What?" James breathed.

Harry continued to look at the table. "It's my fault." He repeated sadly. "If I'd never been born then none of this would have happened."

James felt his heart break into a million pieces and he sat down and looked softly at his son.

"No... Harry... none of this is your fault... you were just a baby..."

Harry looked up and met his eyes, pain shining in the green eyes that James loved more than anything.

"Maybe I didn't DO anything." Harry said more strongly. "But everything comes back to me! He killed you because of me!"

"You were a BABY! You didn't do anything wrong! And you are my son, Harry! I'd happily let Voldemort or anyone else kill me a dozen times or more if it means you're safe!"

"It's no-one's fault." Remus broke the silence that had fallen over the rest of the table's occupants. "If anyone can be blamed, it's Peter and Voldemort. Let's keep our mental health and stick to that, shall we?"

James nodded quietly, knowing that Remus was right. Harry's outburst had made him realise that. They sat back down and Sirius patted Harry comfortingly on the shoulder.

They all stared quietly into their food for a while and James decided to break the silence. He needed to know the rest.

"So... howcome you're... well... you, Sirius? Howcome you're not..."

"Completely mental? Well, when it got too bad, I changed into Padfoot. Dementors don't affect you that much then:"

_Oh..._ James glanced at his parents and wife. They looked puzzled which was quite understandable.

"I think this all requires some elaborating." Remus said and took a deep breath: "It all began when James and Sirius discovered my secret. I'm a werewolf."

Lily gaped and James felt his parents stare at him. Harry was unusually interested in his goblet of wine. _Hey, should he even be drinking wine?_ The parenting part of James' brain nagged. _Did you drink at age 16?_ A voice sounding a lot like Sirius' mocked him. James mentally shrugged. This was probably as hard for Harry as it was for him. Now was not the time to fuss.

"We found out in second year." James said.

"We wanted to help Remus," Sirius continued. "so we found a way to be able to stay with him during the transformations without getting hurt. By fifth year, James, Peter and I had all become animagi."

James' eyes widened at Sirius' revelation. That was a sworn secret.

"It's not a secret any more, James... All of the Order knows." Sirius commented when he saw James' expression.

Lily briefly glared at him and James knew he'd be scolded later for being an illegal animagus.

His father, however, looked at him curiously and somewhat proudly.

"Animagi at the age of 14! So, what are you?"

"I'm a stag." James confessed and his father beamed.

"And I'm a dog. I look like _that_." Sirius added and pointed to the toy dog Harry had put on the kitchen counter while eating.

"And Peter is a rat." Remus said darkly.

"We should have known..." Sirius shook his head.

Just then, James realized something and a chill ran down his spine. He dropped his fork with a clatter.

"Wait... Sirius... If you went to Azkaban – what happened to Harry?"

**Original A/N: Alright, it was a bit longer this time... in the next chapter Harry tells his story. So it might get a bit longer too - I don't know -I haven't written it yet... don't get too used to it though... I do plan toreturn to normal chapter lengths- It just doesn't seem to fit here :)  
I plan to get the next chapter up before I leave on the next part of my vacation which will be on Sunday. So next chapter - sometime before Sunday. **

**Nuria VanWelick: So sorry about the cliffhangers... I didn't even realised I made them at first... I guess what I define as a good place to end a chapter is a cliffhanger to the rest of you. Of course, I know what's going to happen.. (_blows raspberry) _Sorry, I'll be nice now...I'll hurry with the next update.**

**Shinigami: Yes, I believe Harry saw more people in the Mirror of Erised too. I don't have the book at the moment, so I can't check. I did look up some stuff online though. So about other family members: The most obvious would be his other set of grandparents. Lily's parents. I don't really feel they'd fit anywhere in the story though, so I'm not going to bring them back. And it's fairly clear that James is an only child - so I'm not going to invent any siblings for him. Alas, though life can be wonderful sometimes - we rarely get everything we want. But he's in his ancestral home... with his father and grandfather... I promise he'll learn more about his family. **

**Princess Sophia: I'm glad you like it so much that you have to put it in caps. As for abandoning the story - don't worry, I have no such plans - andthough I do not have an actual chapter plan, I do have severalplot parts for this story which I have not even gotten toyet and I can tell you that there is still a long way to go.**

**sirius-harry-r-IN-love, Nightwing 509, Flower123, Lemar2RedFox, Hotsweetness, Darkcelestial20, Bandgsecurtiyaw, TurningTime, Amrawo and Rylie D: Thanks everyone for your nice reviews. I think we all feel that Harry deserves to get his family back.**


	7. The first three years

**A/N Alright, so here's Chapter 7. I hope you'll forgive me for any minor typoes and such. I'm leaving on an excavation tomorrow morning and I wanted to get this out to you before then. Not to mention I haven't packed yet... I hope you like it. **

**If you read Chapter 6 immediately after it was posted, you might want to look again. I changed it a bit later as you'll already know if you had reviewed it before the change. **

Chapter 7: The first three years

"Wait – if you went to Azkaban... What happened to Harry?

The clatter as his father dropped his fork made arry think of the ominous tolling of a sinking ship's bell. He stiffened. Remus' hand was holding a piece of meat on his fork a few inches away from his open mouth. Harry swallowed a lump in his throat as Remus' meat fell off the fork. Sirius sighed and pulled at his long, black hair.

"You're not going to like this..."

"Just tell us, Padfoot."

"Dumbledore... he thought it would be best... to... put him with..." Sirius closed his eyes and winced. "The Dursleys."

"WHAT!"

Harry jerked back in his seat as his mother rose and seemed to grow slightly taller at the same time.His father had hid his face in his hands.

"OF EVERYONE WE KNOW, HE CHOSE MY SISTER! SHE ALWAYS HATED ME! I TOLD HIM SO! WE TOLD HIM IF SOMETHING HAPPENED HE COULDN'T SEND HARRY THERE! HE PROMISED!"

Sirius cowered under Lily's shouts. Harry stared wide eyed at his mother and at that very moment he took a vow never to get his mother angry. He had a feeling that she could give Mrs. Weasley a run for her money in a scolding competition and he was rather glad that he was not Professor Dumbledore right now.

Suddenly, his mother turned on her heel and strode towards the door. His father jumped up and caught her arm.

"Lily! Where are you going?" His father exclaimed.

"To see that old fool of a headmaster!" She seethed and pulled her arm free.

"No.. not yet... just listen..." he grabbed her arm again and she pulled it away just as quickly.

"Back off, Potter!"

James blinked but quickly recovered. "Oh no, you don't!" he waved his hand and the door slammed shut in front of Lily. She turned around and glared daggers at her husband.

"Let - me - out." She demanded in a rather cold voice.

"No." His father raised his voice. "Don't you think I want to hex Dumbledore too? Don't you think I want to hex DURSLEY for how I'm sure he must have treated our son? You're right! Dumbledore promised! So he must have had a bloody good reason to go against that promise!"

Lily looked slightly less and James lowered his voice again now that he was getting through to her.

"You can hex Dumbledore if you want. I know he'll need a very good excuse for me not to. But shouldn't we get the whole story first?"

Lily still looked like she might explode if someone prodded her but she frowned and nodded. Then she walked back to the table and sat.

"Tell."

"Harry, I think it's your turn." Sirius said quietly.

Harry gulped and looked at his mother who looked surprisingly softly at him.

"Er... well... it all started when I got my Hogwarts letter." He began. "Uncle Vernon wouldn't let me read it. But the letters just kept coming. So Uncle Vernon took us all out to this little cabin on a rock in the sea – so the owls couldn't reach us. But then Hagrid came and have me my letter personally. So then he told me I'm a wizard and..."

"Wait a minute – you didn't know?" his father interrupted, his eyes wide.

Harry shook his head. "They told me you died in a car crash."

He paused and glanced warily at his mother as she made a sound rather like an angry bull. But she said nothing.

"Anyway, he took me to Diagon Alley the next day to buy my school supplies. He bought me an owl for my birthday – he name's Hedwig. The Dursleys dropped me off at Kings Cross and on the train I met Ron Weasley. He's my best friend. He has five brothers and a sister – Ginny..."

His father raised an eyebrow and his grandfather said "Weasley, eh? Aren't they known to only have boys?"

Harry nodded.

"Yeah, Ginny's the first girl for generations. So at school both Ron and I got sorted into Gryffindor." Harry continued, feeling rather happy as his parents beamed at him. "Oh yes, and in his speech, Dumbledore said that this corridor on the third floor was out of bounds. So our first flying lesson came up..." Harry saw his father light up. "Neville had an accident and Madam Hooch took him to the Hospital Wing. Neville had a Remembrall and this Slytherin boy, Draco Malfoy, took it. So basically I asked for it and he flew off with it and I followed. Then Malfoy throws it and I managed to dive and catch it. McGonagall saw that – and I thought I'd be expelled – but instead she made me seeker for Gryffindor."

If Harry thought his father had lit up at the mention of flying, it was nothing compared to the way he grinned now.

"Made the Quidditch team as a first year, eh? That's really something Harry! Wow, I'm proud of you! We'll have to go for a fly together sometime!"

"I'd like that – I heard you're good." Harry grinned back at his father. There was nothing he wanted more and he still had trouble wrapping his mind around the idea that he _could_ go flying with his dad.

Harry then explained how they were set up by Malfoy and met the three-headed dog. He received a stern look from his mother, probably for being out after curfew but it was pretty much outweighed by the proud look his father gave him.

So Harry told of the troll and how he and Ron had gone to rescue Hermione and they had become friends when she took the blame for what had happened.

"That was really stupid, Harry – you were very lucky to get out of that in one piece." His father looked slightly worried.

Harry raised an eyebrow. "And what exactly would you have done?"

"The same..:" His father confessed sheepishly. "But that doesn't make it less dangerous."

Harry thought that compared to everything else he had experienced, fighting the troll was actually rather harmless.

He proceeded to explain about the Mirror of Erised and of how they had found out that the dog was guarding the Philosopher's Stone. When he got to the part about them thinking Snape might be trying to steal the stone, his father made a strange sound and Harry realised he hadn't really mentioned Snape before.

"Yeah," Sirius growled in response to James' sound. "I know."

"He teaches Potions. And he favours the Slytherins." Harry commented.

"Has Dumbledore gone completely mental?" His father frowned. "Snivellus, a teacher?"

"He's in the Order, too..." Sirius grumbled. "Our _spy_, Dumbledore says. I think he spies the other way though."

Harry watched as his father looked down and shook his head slowly, looking like he thought the world had gone mad. Harry's hearth sank when he realised how much more there was to tell. He figured he might as well get it over with and sighed.

"Well, we talked to Hagrid about that stranger he'd won the dragon egg from. Turned out he'd accidentally told the stranger that the dog fell asleep if you played music. So, we tried to find Dumbledore's office to tell him and instead we ran into McGonagall who said Dumbledore had left!"

Harry flung his arms over his head in a gesture of hopelessness.

"We told her what we knew and she just brushed us off! We tried to follow Snape but we couldn't so in the evening we went after him past the dog."

Harry looked at the others. Sirius and Remus looked rather calm. Of course they'd heard the story before. His grandmother was covering her mouth with a hand and his grandfather looked mildly surprised. His mother looked slightly angry with him and his father's head had shot up.

No-one said anything so Harry continued his story of how they had gotten past the dog by playing a flute but also realised that Snape was ahead of them. And how they had fallen right into the Devil's Snare but had been saved by Hermione and proceeded to the flying keys where Harry had been able to catch the right one only to lead them to the huge chessboard.

"Luckily, Ron's amazing at Wizard's Chess:" Harry said. "but he had to sacrifice himself for us to win. So he got knocked out and Hermione and I had to continue."

If they had all looked worried before it was nothing compared to now.

"They sound like really good friends, Harry." His father said hoarsely and blinked.

"They are the best." Harry smiled before he continued to tell about the potions and how Hermione had solved the riddle and had gone back for help as Harry had moved forward only to discover that the culprit was Quirrell and not Snape.

For the briefest moment, Harry thought he saw disappointment flash across his father's face – then it was gone and he merely looked worried.

Harry then told about how he had gotten the stone out of the mirror.

"Then he took off his turban and at the back of his head was Voldemort's face."

The other's gasped and his mother made a whimpering sound.

"You faced Voldemort when you were 11?" his father asked.

Harry nodded darkly. "I should probably warn you, this is only the first time."

"You fought him more than once?" Lily looked close to tears and James put a comforting arm around her.

"Between 3 and 5 times, depending on how you define 'fought'." Harry nodded gravely. "I should probably just continue..."

At his father's approving nod, he told how he discovered that Quirrell burned himself on Harry's skin and finally how Dumbledore had saved him.

"So... yeah, that was my first year..." He finished rather lamely.

His grandfather cleared his throat. "I don't reckon anyone's still interested in dinner. So why don't we move to the living room and some softer seats?"

Everyone agreed to that and they went through another door in the kitchen and into a living room. Harry guessed that this room was situated behind the hall.

In the living room two very inviting couches were arranged at either side of a coffee table in front of a fireplace. Opposite the fireplace were three large armchairs. Harry imagined that many cognacs and cigars had been shared here.

In a corner two smaller armchairs sat next to a small, round table. The chairs were positioned so that the occupants could look out of the windows into what Harry assumed was a garden – it was hard to tell as it was dark outside.

Harry's grandfather pointed his wand at the fireplace and a fire burst into life. Then he took a seat in one of the great armchairs. His grandmother sat on the couch and his parents sat on the other couch. Sirius and Remus joined his grandmother and Harry took the empty seat next to his father.

"Well, in second year the first interesting thing that happened was that a house elf came to talk to me at the Dursleys."

His mother made a sound that probably would have been a snort – had she not been so upset about Harry's story so far. His father hugged her comfortingly.

"I bet they loved _that_:" she said in a small voice.

"Well, they didn't find out. And I think I should be glad." Harry said and told how Dobby had dropped the pudding on the floor when Harry would not promise to stay away from Hogwarts – and how that had gotten Harry a warning for underage magic and how Uncle Vernon had put bars on his window.

"Lily, flower," his father said in a deadly calm voice. "Mind if I pay your family a visit soon?"

"Don't worry, James, I'll do it myself." His mother replied angrily. "You're welcome to join me though."

"I think I'd like that... I have a few spells for them already..."

Harry wasn't going to object – in fact he mentally noted to himself to plead and beg later to be allowed to go with them and watch. So instead of objecting, he told them how Ron and Fred and George had come and gotten him in that flying car and how he'd stayed at the Burrow.

When he reached the part about taking the car to Hogwarts and landing in the Whomping Willow he noticed that his father looked at the verge of grabbing him and inspect him for injuries.

"I'm fine, Dad.." he said and his father grinned – probably at being called "Dad".

"You have a knack for getting in trouble, don't you?" James grinned.

"And for getting _out_ of them, fortunately." Harry grinned back, then added dramatically: "I _wonder_ where I got it from."

His father laughed and ruffled his hair.

Harry continued his story – and for a while the mood was slightly lighter. That, however, changed when he got to the part of them discovering the writing on the wall about the Chamber of Secrets being opened.

"I guess some of you have heard of it?" Harry said and this time it was his grandmother who said something. She stared wide-eyed at Harry.

"It's said that a monster lives there – Slytherin's monster. And when it's opened the monster will kill those Slytherin deemed unworthy to study at Hogwarts. But... surely that's a myth..."

Harry did not elaborate on that but went on to explain the duelling club. This was one thing he dreaded telling his parents. Would they shun him? Hate him for being a Parselmouth? _Of course they won't! _Hermione's voice argued in his head. _Remus didn't – Sirius didn't._

How did Hermione get in his head? Harry decided to just get it over with and told the story.

"So then everyone at school thought I was Slytherin's heir!" he finished sadly.

But when he looked up at his parents he saw neither hate nor rejection.

"But you're not..." his father assured him softly.

"I know that now..:" said Harry quietly. "So you don't hate me for having such a dark ability?"

At that, his mother got out of her seat and pulled him into a tight hug.

"We could never hate you!" she rocked him gently back and forth. She held on to Harry for a while and he soaked in the feeling of being hugged by his mum. When she let go, she did not return to her seat, but sat on Harry's other side. Harry and his father moved over to make room.

As Harry continued his tale, his mother rubbed his back gently. However, when he got to the Polyjuice Potion, she paused.

"You brewed Polyjuice in your second year? That's a very difficult potion!" she marvelled.

"Yes, we did – Well, Hermione did." Harry said and elaborated the story as his mother picked up the back-rubbing again. Harry decided it was rather nice.

He went on to tell how Hermione had been petrified and Hagrid arrested. When he told them about the Acromantulas, his mother's gently rubbing became harder and it was less comfortable. He didn't stop her though. He continued the story of how he and Ron had figured out where the entrance to the Chamber was. And then how they had learned that Ginny had been taken and they'd run to tell Lockhart where the entrance was – only to find him packing.

"He threatened to obliviate us. But we were two against one, so he surrendered and we took him to the entrance at wandpoint. Made him go first."

Lily ceased her rubbing and grabbed Harry's wrist. But it was James who voiced his thoughts.

"You went into the Chamber of Secrets when you knew there was a basilisk in there?"

"You make it sound stupid." Harry defended himself. "We had to do something. It had taken Ginny."

And suddenly, he felt a lot more anger towards the basilisk and Riddle than ever before. It hadn't just taken an innocent little girl – it had taken GINNY!

James raised his eyebrows but let it rest. Harry glanced at the others. They were all sitting quietly and looked like they tried to sink into the background. Harry was grateful. He needed to tell everyone these things and he'd prefer to only have to tell it once. But on the other hand, he wanted to talk to his parents.

So he went on about going into the Chamber and Lockhart trying to obliviate them with Ron's broken wand and obliviating himself instead. And how Harry continued alone and faced the young Voldemort and his basilisk.

As he told them about his fight with the basilisk and how Fawkes helped him – and how he pulled the sword out of the sorting hat, his mother gripped his wrist tighter and he was glad he was not wearing a watch. Nevertheless, when he had reached the part where he stabbed the diary, Ginny woke up and Fawkes healed him, his hand had turned slightly purple.

"Mum, my hand needs blood..:" He said quietly and Lily immediately let go.

"Harry, do you know why you were able to pull that sword from the hat?" James asked quietly. He had taken off his glasses and was rubbing his eyes.

"Dumbledore said only a real Gryffindor could..:" Harry trailed off as the sound of a voice whispering in the wind entered his mind. _Gryffindor's scion_.

"Do you mean that...?" he began.

"That you are Gryffindor's heir? You are indeed..." his father said. "One cannot be more of a real Gryffindor than you. Which I think is fairly obvious from your story too."

Harry's heart warmed as his father looked at him proudly. They looked at each other for a while until Sirius broke the silence with a strange, slightly sarcastical, yet cheerful voice.

"So... shall we take third year while we're at it? That's a fun one!"

His father looked surprisedly at Sirius, but Harry's throat felt fry from all the talking.

"Erm... I'm rather thirsty... may I have a glass of water first?" He asked.

His grandmother jumped up. "Perhaps I should make some tea for all of us?"

She did not wait for a reply before she scurried out the door towards the kitchen. His grandfather got up and walked to a cabinet where he took out a bottle of firewhisky and a stack of glasses.

"After that story I think I need something stronger than tea." He cleared his throat and joined them at the table. "Anyone else?"

"Please..:" Remus took the bottle and poured himself a rather large drink before handing the bottle to Sirius who did the same. His mother poured a more moderate amount and handed the bottle past him to his father.

"Harry?" his father indicated the bottle. Harry looked at it uncertainly.

"May I?" he blinked.

"I think we'll overlook it tonight." His father replied with a wink and sent a glare over Harry's shoulder, undoubtedly to return one that Lily sent.

"Well, then yes please. I could need it too." Harry said and didn't look at his mother.

They quietly sipped their firewhisky for a little while when Harry's grandmother returned wtih tea and some bowls of Chocolate Frogs and Cauldron Cakes.

"Well..." Harry started as his grandmother sat down. "Third year began when I blew up Aunt Marge."

Lily, who had been sipping her firewhisky spluttered.

"You what?" she coughed.

"She started saying nasty things about Dad." He replied. "And I got angry. She started blowing up and floated to the ceiling. – I took my things and left."

"Thanks for that Harry." James said.

"No reason." Harry said and opened his mouth to continue his story.

"Harry's third year was the year I escaped." Sirius said.

"Escaped?" James blinked and looked confused.

"From Azkaban."

"You _escaped_ from Azkaban?" James looked at Sirius incredulously. Sirius nodded.

"_How_?"

"As Padfoot. Could squeeze through the bars and swam to shore. I'd seen a picture in the Prophet of a boy who was holding a rat. I immediately recognised Wormtail. Unfortunately, everyone else thought I'd broken out to go after Harry."

"So when did they declare you free?" James blinked.

"They didn't:" Sirius shook his head. "I'm still on the run. Dumbledore knows I'm innocent and I'm staying at Grimmauld Place – which is Order headquarters now. It's quite useful that the guy who's in charge of catching me is in the Order too."

"Perhaps if I talked to the Minister..."

Sirius shook his head. "That would only clear me of your murders. Not of the muggles and the rat. There's no way they'll free me unless we can give them Peter."

"Then we'll just have to find Peter." James' eyes narrowed and he sipped his firewhisky determinedly.

Harry continued his story of taking the Knight Bus and meeting the Weasleys and Hermione in Diagon Alley. When he got to the part of sitting in the same compartment as the sleeping Remus, they all laughed at Ron's comment that he looked like one spell could do him in. Remus himself laughed the most – especially when Harry told them that they had checked that he wasn't dead.

Harry then went on with the story again and covered Hermione's full schedule, Trelawny's prediction of his death and how he thought Padfood was the Grim. James roared with laughter at that and Remus sniggered. Sirius scowled at James.

"Yes, you always were rather grim looking." James laughed.

"Shut up, Rudoplh." Sirius grumbled.

"Rudolph's a reindeer, Padfoot." James corrected. Sirius just gave him a pointed look and James shut up.

Harry thought this was absolutely brilliant. He'd never really experienced Remus sniggering like that before and Sirius looked a lot less haunted. And even though his godfather grumbled, Harry could tell he was not really angry as he attacked the bowl of Chocolate Frogs.

Having one himself, Harry told them about the Hippogriff lesson and Malfoy's injury. The Boggart lesson was next and Remus didn't have anything to add, so Harry continued to the attack on the Fat Lady.

"You ripped the Fat Lady's portrait?" Lily exclaimed and Sirius swallowed a lump of what had to be at least three Chocolate Frogs.

"She wouldn't let me in!" he cowered.

"Of course she wouldn't! That's what she's there for!"

"I got really angry – I wanted to get Wormtail."

Harry decided to save Sirius and told of the Quidditch game and the dementors and when he mentioned what he heard, both his parents hugged him tightly for a long time.

Then he mentioned how the twins had giving him the Marauder's Map so he could go to Hogsmeade. His father looked intrigued.

"I thought it had been destroyed!" He grinned. "Do you have it on you?"

"Not right now – it's back at school."

"I'd really like to see it sometime, then."

Harry nodded in agreement. He had a few things he'd like his father to add to the map anyway.

He went on with the story about going to Hogsmeade, what he'd overheard at the Three Broomsticks and the Firebolt he'd received for Christmas. Then he moved on to the patronus lessons with Remus.

Laughter spread again as Harry told of Snape seeing the Marauder's ap and what it told him. He laughed too when Remus word for word told what the map had said.

And at that moment, he realized how nice this was. He was sitting with his family around tea and chocolate and laughing. Even his mother was giggling a bit.

Harry continued to tell of Buckbeak's lost case, Hermione's strange behaviour and how he'd once again seen the "Grim". He ignored his mother's slight frown when he told about his Divination exam and how he had made everything up. She frowned harder when he told them about Trelawny's prediction.

Harry continued to tell about Buckbeak's execution and finding Scabbers only to have him escape and Ron chase after him.

"So Ron caught the rat, but before we could get back under the cloak, this big dog came charging at us. Knocked me down, but then it attacked Ron and dragged him off."

"I did apologise later." Sirius muttered.

James looked oddly at his best friend. "You attack the Fat Lady, you tear a boy's bed curtains and you attack a kid... What's wrong with _you_?"

"You try being chased by Dementors and try to catch that filthy rat and see if you could do better." Sirius grumbled, then added. "I apologised to Ron later and he's fine."

James frowned but motioned Harry to continue.

"So the dog dragged Ron off and into a hole under the Whomping Willow. Ron tried to fight by hooking his leg around a root but his leg broke and he disappeared into the hole. We tried to get past the tree but we couldn't until Crookshanks ran in and pushed the knot. So when we got to the other end of the tunnel we realised we were in the Shrieking Shack." Harry said and then explained – with some comments from Sirius and Remus – what had happened in the Shrieking Shack with Snape and Wormtail and going back to the castle.

"That's when the clouds moved," Remus said quietly. "and revealed the full moon:"

Harry felt his father stiffen beside him and his mother gasped audibly and grabbed his wrist again. Harry let her squeeze the life out of his hand as he told about Remus transforming and Sirius fighting him, Peter's escape and how they had been attacked by the Dementors –and saved at the last moment. He then ended his story by explaining Hermione's Time Turner and how they saved Buckbeak, how he'd produced his patronus and chased off the Dementors before he and Hermione saved Sirius. Remus then told how he'd quit and retuned the map and the cloak to Harry.

After a few moments of silence his father cleared his throat.

"Well... you certainly have some interesting school years." He said. "We're a little over halfway. I'm almost afraid to ask, but have your other years been just as.. er... eventful?"

"Yeah... sorry..." Harry replied with a frown.

James shook his head. "I'm amazed you're alive..:"

Harry grinned. "Believe me – so am I."

"Harry," His grandfather rose. "I'm proud to have such a brave grandson. However, this is a bit too much excitement for one night. I need my rest, so I shall retire. Do finish your story. James, I hope you will fill me in tomorrow?"

"Of course Dad." James agreed.

Harry's grandmother rose too. "I think I should go as well." She smiled. "Goodnight everyone."

They all bid goodnight and then it was just the Marauders, Lily and Harry in the living room.


	8. 4th year, 5th year and the final battle

**A/N Yay I finally managed to update! And 125 reviews! WOW thanks everyone that is so cool! I'm sorry for the long time this took - and I can't really promise when the next update will be ready. I'm really really busy at the moment with school and I've joined a Viking group so I need to make clothes too and it takes a long time - AND I start my sword training soon - then we'll see if I'm a Gryffindor and stand my ground... or if I bolt when a large yelling Viking runs towards me with his sword lifted. Hmm I know - I do some strange things for fun... I haven't forgotten this story though. You can thank the party my neighbor is having for keeping me up to type this chapter. **

Chapter 8: 4th Year, 5th Year and the Final Battle

Harry watched as the door closed behind his grandparents. Then he turned back and realised that everyone was looking expectantly at him.

"Riiight..." he muttered. "Fourth year then..."

He reached for another chocolate frog, briefly wondering if the bowl was charmed as it was still full and Sirius had been inhaling chocolate frogs ever since it was put on the table.

Then he began his story of the vision he had had of the old muggle being killed and Voldemort and Wormtail discussing some plan which they needed Harry for. He explained how his scar had hurt and that he'd written Sirius.

"Where were you by the way?" he asked Sirius. "Those mail birds were huge!"

"Thought you'd like them." Sirius grinned. "And if you're on the run – where else to go but South America?"

"You went to South America?" James' eyebrows rose.

"It was Moony's idea, really." Sirius said, pointing to Remus. "He said that muggles on the run go there."

"I said," Remus corrected. "that in history, muggle criminals are known to have found refuge there."

Sirius shrugged. "Same thing – fancier words."

Harry heard his father chuckle lightly beside him.

"Well, then Ron's father got tickets to the Quidditch World Cup." Harry said.

"You went to the World Cup?" James' eyes widened a little and he beamed. "What was it like? Dad took me to a game in France once when I was 6 and it was awesome! Of course I was so young so I don't remember it all that well, but... Oh it must have been great! Who played? Was the game..."

"Jaaaaaaaaames..."

Lily's groan interrupted him and he gaped at her for a moment before recovering and turning to Harry again with the same excited look. "Well?"

Harry laughed at his father's excitement and simply continued his story of how the Weasleys had flooed to the electric fireplace and blasted their way out to pick him up. His mother looked rather smug about that.

Harry went on to tell about the Quidditch World Cup and to humour his father, he let himself babble about the tents, the teams, the game and the celebrations for a while until he glanced at Remus and realised that his eyes were glazing over.

"Oh... should get back to the story..." he exclaimed and Remus repositioned himself on the couch and took a handful of chocolate frogs.

"Well..." Harry said. "that's when the death eaters showed up. They were burning tents and juggling muggles in the air."

He watched his father stare sadly into thin air as he told of what had happened in the woods and of the dark mark. However, the mood lightened a bit when Harry got to describing Ron's dress robes – and his relief when he saw his own. And when Harry got to the Triwizard Tournament, his father jumped up.

"You had a Triwizard Tournament? Why didn't we do that when we were at Hogwarts? That would have been so swell!"

"Yeah well... it wasn't that 'swell' really..." Harry said darkly and James' face fell as he sat back down.

"What happened?"

"Well, first I should tell that the Defense teacher that year was Mad-Eye Moody."

"CONSTANT VIGILANCE!" James and Sirius shouted simultaneously, pointing their wands straight into the air and shooting off red and gold sparks.

"Exactly." Harry grinned and thought that they reminded him rather much of Fred and George right now. But he had his father back – and Sirius seemed so much happier – so it didn't matter if he'd have to be careful every time he walked through a door.

"He gave us a rather disturbing lesson on Unforgivables. Demonstrated them on spiders. That green light... I remember it..." Harry trailed off as his father put an arm around him comfortingly. No-one said anything for a while until Harry felt ready to continue.

Then he told them about the Goblet of Fire, of Fred and George's failed attempt at submitting their names and when he got to the part about Hagrid's suit, hairstyle and eau-de-cologne, the others sniggered a bit. Harry told how Viktor Krum, Fleur Delacour and Cedric Diggory had been chosen.

"And then the goblet spat out a fourth name." He said. "Mine..."

"But you're not 17!" Lily whimpered.

"I know... someone had put my name in. And there was no way back. Even Dumbledore couldn't get me out of it."

James frowned. "I'd like to talk to Dumbledore about that. I'm sure he could have done something if he really wanted to."

Thinking once again that he was glad he wasn't Dumbledore at the moment, Harry told them how Ron had gotten jealous and Rita Skeeter had printed that horrible interview. Then he explained how Hagrid had helped him by letting him know the first task was dragons.

"Dragons!" Lily shrieked wide-eyed.

"I'm still here Mum, so obviously I'm fine..." Harry objected as she grabbed hold of his wrist again. "Moody helped me realise that I could summon my broom and fly past it."

"You _flew_ past a dragon?" James blinked.

"That just tells you how good he is on a broom, James." Sirius said.

"Again, we need to go flying soon, Harry – I want to see that." James smiled proudly.

Harry agreed and explained how they had to get the egg and how the egg held the clue about the next task, but screeched horribly when opened. He blushed slightly when he reached the part about the Yule Ball and the problem with asking someone.

"Oh come ON! It can't be that hard. You just ask!" James exclaimed.

Lily snorted. "I'm sure Harry has more sense than you. Surely he wanted to ask someone the right way. And he'd probably understand a no when he got one." She reached over and took James' hand.

"I understood a no... I just wouldn't accept it." He grinned back. "And it worked in the end. Besides, I didn't ask _that_ many times!"

"Moony?" Sirius prompted.

"457 times, Prongs, that we know of, that is.

James gaped. "You _counted_?"

"After the first week we started a bet on whether or not you'd reach 500 before graduation." Sirius shrugged. "Moony won."

"So _that's_ why you tried to talk me out of it when I decided to stop asking for 7th year!" James exclaimed.

"Don't know what you're talking about." Sirius said way too innocently.

"Children!" Remus interrupted. "Perhaps we should let Harry continue his story?"

As they quieted down again, Harry told of Rita Skeeter's story of Hagrid being half giant and of how Cedric had advised him to take the egg for a bath and Moaning Myrtle had helped him figure out what to do. He continued to tell about Dobby giving him the gillyweed and having to get Ron up from the lake.

"That was very brave of you, Harry." His father said as Harry finished the story of the second task.

"Well, I do – as Hermione puts it – have a saving people thing..." he shrugged and continued to tell about meeting Sirius in the cave outside Hogsmeade.

"You ate _rats_?" James exclaimed, looking thoroughly disgusted.

"Yeah and they don't taste like chicken either..." Sirius grumbled. "It helped a bit to eat as Padfoot though – but it was still pretty foul."

Suddenly James' disgust gave way to a wicked grin. "I'd like to tell Wormtail that when we catch him..."

"I'm _not_ going to eat him if that's what you're thinking!" Sirius exclaimed.

James looked dramatically disappointed. "Oh... perhaps we could feed him to Moony then..."

"Oh please! You know what happened last time!" Remus objected.

"Aw, come on Moony – we're just fantasising – we wouldn't really do that!" James exclaimed.

"Nah..." Sirius agreed. "We'll be much more inventive... Do continue Harry."

And so Harry did. Covering Mr. Crouch going mad and disappearing, the vision of Voldemort torturing Wormtail and yet another irritating article by Rita Skeeter , he began to tell about the trials of the third task.

Harry half expected his mother to grip his wrist again when he told them about the trophy being a portkey which took them to the graveyard. But she did not. She just stared at him sadly. Harry continued telling about Wormtail tying him to the gravestone and when he glanced at his father, James looked like he was about to explode. However, his expression changed to one of utmost disgust when Harry told how Wormtail had cut off his own hand. No-one said anything though. Each of the Marauders had a look of hatred so deep that it could almost be seen, billowing like a red fog above the coffee table. Lily had hidden her face in her hands.

Harry continued to tell how Wormtail had taken his blood, finished the ritual and resurrected Voldemort. Then he explained how Wormtail had gotten a silver hand after the Death Eaters had been summoned and how Harry had duelled with Voldemort and their wands had connected. James looked a bit shocked when he heard that he and Lily had come out of Voldemort's wand. Lily sniffed behind her hands.

Harry told how he'd gotten back to Hogwarts with Cedric's body and Moody had attacked him only to turn out to not be Moody at all. When Harry had finished James was staring into empty air again. Sirius was staring into the fire and Remus frowned at a chocolate frog card which was on the table.

For a moment the room was completely quiet. Then a sob tore through the silence and they all looked at Lily. Her face was still hidden by her hands but tears were flowing through her hands and down her forearms.

James got up and kneeled next to her, gently prying her hands off her face. Her eyes were swollen and red in a radius of about an inch. She looked up at James for a while as tears flowed quietly down her face. Then she let out another sob and threw her arms around him.

Harry watched awkwardly as his father patted his mother's back as she buried her face in his neck. Harry felt he should do something to comfort his mum – in a way it was his fault that she was upset. So, doing what his heart told him to, he put his arms around his mum too and rested his head on her back.

"Don't cry Mum," he said. "I'm fine... it's all over now... Voldemort's gone..."

Lily sniffed and turned around to hug him.

"I'm so, so sorry you had to go through all that... You're too young... I wish it had been different..."

Harry smiled as his mother played with the unruly hair at the back of his head. "I wish so too... but we can't change that... at least it's all over now..."

His mother looked at him tenderly for a moment – then she wiped her eyes and chuckled. "I'm sorry for being such a fountain... I don't know what's gotten into me tonight... I don't usually cry easily – It makes me look so horrible."

"That's alright – I don't mind." Harry smiled. "In fact, you can do just about anything right now and I wouldn't mind. I'm just glad you're here to do it."

Lily smiled fondly. "You're so sweet..."

Harry sighed and looked at his father. "So... would you like to hear about my fifth year? Might as well get it over with..."

James nodded and Harry scooted down the couch so he could lean back against the armrest and put his feet up on the couch. Sirius and Remus had done the same on their couch so that they sat at either end facing each other and sharing the leg space in-between. James did the same and pulled Lily into his lap.

"Well that summer – one evening – I was walking home with Dudley when we were attacked by two Dementors..."

"Dementors?" James raised an eyebrow.

Harry nodded. "Yes... but Dudley knocked my wand out of my hand. They almost got us before I found it and could produce a Patronus."

He explained how Mrs. Figg turned out to be a squib and how Mundungus had left his "Harry-sitting" duty early and how he'd ultimately been suspended from school for producing the Patronus.

"But that would be self-defence!" Lily exclaimed.

"It would..." Harry simply agreed and Lily looked outraged. Harry then told them about being picked up and going to the Headquarters and about the hearing and how he'd finally been allowed to stay at Hogwarts.

Starting to feel tired, he moved on quickly and told about meeting Luna Lovegood on the train and discovering that Umbridge would be the new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher. He then explained her teaching methods and how he had earned himself detention.

"She had me write lines. 'I must not tell lies'. But when I did, the words cut into the back of my hand as I wrote..."

"WHAT?" James exclaimed as Remus jumped, looking like he had just been rudely brought out of near-sleep.

Lily got up and reached for Harry's hand, examining it. Sure enough – there on the back of Harry's right hand were the words 'I must not tell lies' written as a scar.

"But blood quills are illegal... they... still are... right?" James frowned.

"James, we need to see the minister about this!" Lily said angrily.

"I'll see to it." James replied coldly. "She won't get away with that."

"It's my fault too." Harry said. "I didn't tell anyone..."

"That doesn't make it less illegal, Harry..." Lily said.

"She didn't get completely away with it though – I'll get to that later." Harry added.

"Go on then..:"

So Harry told about how people talked about him and the letter Ron had received from Percy and how Umbridge was made 'High Inquisitor' and the Daily Prophet tried to discredit Dumbledore. He told about starting the DA and Umbridge's educational decrees and how Dobby had suggested the Room of Requirement.

"The Room of..." James interrupted.

"Requirement – yes – it turns into whatever you need." Harry explained.

James frowned. "We never..."

"I know..." Harry said. "I'd like you to add it to the map if you don't mind."

James nodded in agreement, slightly amazed, and Harry continued telling about the DA and got to the part of Umbridge banning him and the Weasley twins from Quidditch for life.

James opened his mouth – probably to object strongly – but Harry quickly assured him that Dumbledore had lifted the ban.

Harry continued his story covering how he had had a vision of Mr. Weasley being attacked and they had saved him. Feeling rather tired and watching Sirius snuggle into the couch in a very canine way, Harry hurried his story to cover the interview he'd given Rita Skeeter for the Quibbler and getting Occlumency lessons from Snape (at which he noticed his dad and Sirius shared a pointed look). He told them of the DA being discovered and how Dumbledore had taken the blame and disappeared.

When he got to the part about what he had seen in Snape's pensieve, he saw that his father had a slightly regretful look on his face. Harry decided not to question it now but it did make him feel a bit better that his father did seem to have changed just like Sirius and Remus had said.

Staring into the hypnotical fluttering of the flames in the fireplace, Harry told of how Fred and George had left and Hagrid had introduced them to Grawp. Then Harry explained how he had seen Sirius being tortured by Voldemort in a vision during his OWL exam and how he had rushed to the Ministry and into the Department of Mysteries only to learn that it had been a trap. And how they had fought and the order and Dumbledore had saved them.

Lily did not cry this time though judging by her expression that was simply because she had no tears left. James looked shocked but proud too.

"Go on." James said. "Let's just get it over with, eh?"

Harry agreed as he was having trouble keeping his eyes open and he quickly explained how Voldemort had attacked Hogwarts and he, Ron, Hermione and Ginny had faced the inner circle of Death Eaters and finally Voldemort. How Hermione's shield had kept the Death Eaters at bay and how Voldemort had taunted Harry and tortured Ginny – and eventually how Harry had managed wandless magic – and won.

When he had finished he grabbed a handful of chocolate frogs – more for the emotional comfort than just the sweets.

"You've been through an awful lot..." James said quietly and Harry chewed on his chocolate frogs.

Harry looked at him and he looked very sad. "More than any person should have to go through. Merlin, Harry! I'm so proud of you! It's amazing that you are still sane..."

Harry smiled sadly. "I don't think I would be if it weren't for you guys coming back..."

James looked at Harry sadly for a while until Harry could not hold back a yawn.

James smiled and looked at the clock "Whoa! It's 4 in the morning! No wonder I'm tired. We should all get some sleep... Padfoot, you can take the room you had last time. Moony, Lily, Harry – come on – we'll find some rooms."

James got up and the others followed him out through the kitchen, dining room and into the hall. As they walked up the stairs Harry gaped half-curiously at the paintings that lined the walls.

The paintings were either empty or the occupants were fast asleep. In one painting a young woman in white robes seemed to have left her frame to sleep next to a young man with unruly black hair on the floor of another painting. Harry had yet to learn that his hair was not unique in this house.

When they had ascended the stairs, they got to a landing and James went to the left. They followed him through a door and entered a corridor. Sirius walked past James and opened a door right opposite of the one they had just walked through. He bade them goodnight, sent Harry an encouraging smile and closed the door. Remus got the next room – and by the next – right where the corridor turned a corner, James stopped.

"We'll stay here Lily..." he said "I'll just show Harry his room and I'll be there in a moment."

Lily looked like she was about to object but apparently caught something in James' look as she just nodded and kissed him quickly before entering the room too.

"You'll be getting my old room..." James said as they rounded the corner and walked past a door, stopping at the second door.

"But..." Harry frowned. "Wouldn't you want it? I mean – if it's your stuff..."

"Nah... the other room is more suitable for me and Lily. Go on though... see if you like it... we can make some changes in the morning if you want..." James said and gestured towards the door in front of them.

Harry opened the door and as he did light turned on and revealed a large room. To his left a wardrobe stood against the wall and next to it was a four poster bed – complete with curtains. Next to that, near the window was a desk. In the corner near the window opposite of the desk was a couch with a small coffee table and two chairs. The room was decorated in Gryffindor colours and the bed and the couch looked like they had been taken right out of Gryffindor Tower. And the coffee table had a large scorch mark in the middle. Never had Harry felt so much at home.

"It's perfect..." he breathed and James chuckled.

"Glad you like it! There are some on my old clothes in the wardrobe – you might fit some of them. So if you need something else to wear – you can have a look. You saw where Lily and I are staying so if you need anything just let us know. Even if it's just to talk..:"

Harry smiled. "Thanks Dad – I think I'll be out cold tonight though."

James nodded. "Me too... But if you do need anything just shake me hard or something. I wouldn't recommend a bucket of water as Lily would frown upon that. She hated being woken abruptly." James grinned and Harry got the feeling that "frown upon" was a bit of an understatement of his mother's reaction to such a surprise.

"Riight... goodnight then Dad." Harry hugged his father.

"Goodnight Harry."

As soon as James had closed the door, Harry pulled off his robes and dived into the bed. As he snuggled intro the covers he thought that their smell was vaguely familiar. And that was his last conscious thought that day.


	9. History and Hogwarts

**A/N Well, there you go... Not much to say here except those of you waiting for Harry/Ginny - it's on it's way but it is limited how much can happen when they're away from each other - all that will happen in due time though. Thanks everyone for the reviews!  
Please bear with any minor typos - my mouse is behaving very very strangely. that's no excuse though so do throw something at me if there's any big mistake. I did proof read but it's hard to do when the mouse will not stay still. :)**

Chapter 9: History and Hogwarts

_Ginny looked at him adoringly as they sat under a tree and watched the sunset. She rested her head on his shoulder and put her arms around his neck. He put his arm around her waist and savoured the feeling as his hand came to rest on her flat stomach. _

_Ginny sighed contently and planted a kiss on his cheek. He turned his head and kissed her on the lips. She grinned against his mouth and deepened the kiss. His hand moved slowly upwards..._

_Suddenly Ginny dissolved into thin air and he looked around – confused. Then, before he knew it, he was dangling upside-down suspended by his leg which was being held by a troll-sized Ron! _

_Ron bellowed and swung his club at him and he just barely managed to curl upwards so the club passed beneath him. Ron then dropped him unceremoniously on the ground._

"_My sister!" Ron yelled and lifted the club again._

_He scrambled out of the way and began to run. Troll-Ron did not seem to follow and he paused after a while, catching his breath. He looked back towards Troll-Ron but he was gone. But when he turned back Fred and George were in front of him with their Beater's bats. They glared threateningly at him and he turned and ran towards a forest. Fred and George were right behind him swinging their bats madly. Then the path seemed to grow smalled and he stopped abruptly when he saw Percy leaning casually against a tree – twirling his wand between his fingers. _

"_Really, Harry..." Percy tutted. "One would think you had better manners around a lady."_

"_I do!" he exclaimed – blushing slightly.._

"_Ah ah! Obviously you don't. And my sister will not be seeing anyone unless their intentions are completely honourable:.."_

"_But they are! I want to ma..."he interrupted desperately._

"_ENOUGH!" Percy bellowed and pointed his wand at him. "Crucio!"_

_Shocked, he leapt out of the way and ran through some bushes. But alas, Bill and Charlie blocked his way. Bill flung some weird curse at him._

"_HARRY!"_

_His blood froze in his veins. That way Ginny! He tried to get past Bill and Charlie but they would not let him. _

"_HARRY!"_

_Then he saw her. She was sitting in Gryffindor Tower – shouting for him through the open window. Outside Hogwarts a Hungarian Horntail paced menacingly. He ran towards the castle doors and heard a sinister laugh as the dragon let loose a spray of fire directly at him._

Harry woke up and found himself bathed in sweat. He ran a hand through his hair to find it dripping wet too. Sighing heavily he closed his eyes again.

_What WAS that?_

_**The first part was rather nice though...**_

_Shut up – she's your best mate's little sister – Ron'll pummel you!_

_**She's so beautiful though... She'd be worth it...**_

Harry shook his head. Of all the girls at school he'd just have to fall for the one with 6 protective older brothers – and the one who'd gotten over her crush on him as she had gotten to know him better.

That thought resulted in a nasty pang in his stomach and he pushed it aside. Pulling off the covers, he got up, picked his robes from yesterday off the floor and put them on. He really needed a bath.

Realising he did not know where the bathroom was, he entered the hallway and looked around. Trying to decide if he should go ask someone – or just try some doors, he frowned. He knew that this was supposed to be his home but he felt like a guest. No, he'd go see if anyone was up yet. Having made his decision, he strode down the hallway, rounded the corner... and walked straight through a ghost.

He shuddered and gasped as the freezing feeling dissolved.

"Good Morrow, young James."

Harry turned around and blinked at the ghost he had just walked through. A man in his mid-twenties blinked back at him. His transparent hair was longer than Harry's but it was still characteristically messy. His transparent eyebrows lifted. "You are not James..."

"No," Said Harry. "James is my father."

"Merlin's teeth! A new heir I have not met! Pray tell, wherefore have we n'er met?" The ghost exclaimed and floated a bit closer to get a good look at Harry.

"I just came here last night." Harry explained. "The house has been shut down for many years. I did not even know it existed."

The ghost blinked sadly. "Aye, it has been verily quiet. E'er since that horrible December day when that wayward clot murdered Edward and Emily. Young James was devestated of course. I n'er saw him after that. Are you here with him?"

"Yes," Harry nodded. "And my grandma and grandpa are fine too. See, I killed that 'wayward clot' and they came back to life."

"By my wand! That is amazing!" The ghost lit up as much as a ghost can – then frowned slightly. "I did not catch you name, Heir?"

"Oh sorry! I'm Harry... Harry Potter..:" Harry said and grinned at the fact that someone did not know who he was. "And you are?"

"Cornelius... The surname you can guess, mayhap?" Cornelius grinned and ran a hand through his messy hair.

Harry grinned back and then he remembered his errand. "Er... Cornelius... do you know where the bathroom is?"

"Aye, right down there." Cornelius said and pointed to a door two doors away from Harry's room. "I shall go see Edwards then. Farewell, young Harry."

Harry thanked him and said goodbye before heading to the bathroom.

After a wonderful bath – in a bathroom that reminded him greatly of the Prefects' bathroom at Hogwarts – Harry returned to his room. Going through the wardrobe he picked some dark green robes with golden linings. That would be nice for a change since all his robes were Hogwarts ones.

A few minutes later he bounded down the stairs, glanced at a clock in the hall and noted that it was 10.15 AM and headed towards the kitchen. When he entered the kitchen his grandmother was in full swing making tea, eggs and toast.

"Good morning Grandma." He said as he relieved her of a plate of toast.

"Good morning Harry." She smiled. "Did you sleep well?"

"Yes, better than I have for a long time, actually." Harry confessed as he placed the plate of toast on the table and added. "The room is brilliant. This whole house is brilliant!"

His grandmother chuckled and steered him to his seat at the table before proceeding to pile eggs onto his plate.

"Didn't you have house elves?" he asked, wondering why his grandmother was cooking.

"Oh yes – but I rather enjoy cooking so when we're just family I cook myself. The house elves have plenty of other things to look after. It is a large house after all."

"Oh..."

At that moment his grandfather came in and joined the breakfast.

"I hear you met Cornelius." He said as he reached for a piece of toast.

"Yes..." Harry replied. "I didn't know you had a ghost."

"Ah well, Harry, every wizarding house has something and larger manors and castles usually have a ghost or two."

Harry nodded and thought of the ghoul in Ron's addic – and then he wondered if Grimmauld Place had a ghost. He shivered at the thought. Where Potter Manor represented the light side of magic, Grimmauld Place could not be any darker and he was sure a ghost there would fall into the same category as the Bloody Baron.

Harry's musings were interrupted when his grandfather spoke again.

"Harry, I was thinking... perhaps you would be interested to hear a bit of family history when we have finished our breakfast?" he asked.

"Really? I'd like that!" Harry grinned and hurried to finish his breakfast only to watch impatiently as his grandfather finished eating – which at the same time made him feel that he was acting like a five-year-old.

Finally his grandfather rose and Harry followed him into the formal dining room where he stopped in front of an ancient looking tapestry.

"Now... how much do you already know?" his grandfather asked and put a hand on Harry's shoulder.

"Uh... well... nothing really... up until yesterday I didn't even kow this place existed." Harry stared at his feet, feeling a bit stupid.

"Well then, many wizarding families are very old. Godric Gryffindor had one child – a daughter called Gunnild. She was among the first students when Hogwarts opened. Among the students were also Herbert Potter."

Harry watched as his grandfather carefully prodded a little man on the tapestry who then looked at them and waved. Harry saw a girl come out of what he only realised was Hogwarts because it said so about the castle. She hugged the man and they disappeared into a house.

"Herbert Potter married Gunnild Gryffindor and they had a son named Gilbert."

Another man came out of the house and waved at them. Then he walked a bit and jumped onto a ship and sailed away.

"Gilbert was very adventurous and spent most of his youth travelling. Until one day he returned with an Irish wife – Aillionora." His grandfather explained as Harry watched the small embroidered ship return and Gilbert sted out followed by a redhead.

"Gilbert was the first Potter to carry the traits that still characterize our family. Although this tapestry does not show it, Gilbert is – in written sources – always described as having impossible black hair – and a liking for redheads..." His grandfather glanced at him and Harry blushed slightly and followed the older Potter into the hall.

"That's common in wizarding families. Even more so than with muggles because the magic in our blood affects our looks too. Ever since Gilbert all male Potters have had unmanagable black hair and we always marry redheads. We must like the challenge..." his grandfather chuckled as he walked over to a painting that hung at the bottom of the stairs.

"Gilbert and Aillionora had a son. That's another thing... First born Potter is always a son. Gilbert and Aillionora named him Alexander. Gilbert built this house in 1244 when Alexander was born. We've lived here ever since. Good morning Alexander." He nodded as the painting stared back at them

"Good morning Edward. So pleasant to see you back. Takes more than that to get a Potter, eh?" The painting grinned.

"My grandson, Harry here, is to thank for that." His grandfather patted him on the shoulder and the painting peered at him curiously – then shook his head in wonder, commenting that it was amazing that James was already old enough to have an almost adult son.

As they walked slowly up the stairs, Harry was introduced to the paintings and he listened happily to the stories of Edmund and Dionis Potter, father and son, who had both died while they fought side by side in a battle in France, of Dionis' son, Hugo Potter, who had taken over the role as patriarc at the age of 7 after his father's death and looked after the family's economies for more than 160 years because his offspring were more interested in travelling and therefore it was his great-grandson William who took over. About Williams son, Robert, who was killed trying to save a friend from an angry dragon and Edmund 2, Robert's at the time 3 year old son, who grew up and went to kill the dragon for revenge at age 17 and managed to do so but died himself from burns and left his pregnant wife behind. And of his great-grandfather who lost his life in the war against Grindelwald and his grandfather who had attended Hogwarts with Dumbledore and fought by his side in the final battle against Grindelwald too.

It was a little after noon when Lily and Remus appeared followed by a tired looking James and Sirius. Harry and his grandfather followed them to the kitchen where Lily helped his grandmother with lunch and the rest sat down.

"So," Harry's grandmother said." What will you all be doing today?"

"Well, I'm going to Hogwarts to have a word with Dumbledore." Lily huffed.

"Which means I'll be going too." James added.

"I think I go with you then, I shall like to see the Headmaster again." Harry's grandfather added.

Harry did not say anything. For the first time in his life he did not want to go back to Hogwarts.

"You should go too, Harry." Remus said. "Ron and Hermione will want to know where you went. And you could get your broom."

And suddenly Harry realised that he had just disappeared overnight and his friends would be worred sick. He also realised that they did not know his parents were back – nor did anyone else.

"Er... you can't very well just walk into Hogwarts. People don't know you're back."

"Well, they'll find out then..." was all his dad said.

So, half an hour later, Harry walked through the gates of Hogwarts behind his parents and grandfather. Or rather, Lily strode angrily towards the castle, James tried to keep up and calm her down a bit and Harry and his grandfather walked behind them.

As they entered the castle, Harry kept his eyes focused on his mother who had worked herself up to furious now. The other students stared at him – not that that was anything new.

"I'm going to Gryffindor Tower to get my things." Harry told his grandfather who nodded.

"We'll get you there when we're done."

And Harry ran. Ran to drain some energy such happiness apparently bottled up inside you. He did not care that the other students had to jump out of the way and yelled at him and he was thoroughly disappointed when he climbed through the portrait hole and learned that neither Ron, Hermion or Ginny were there.

Instead, he entered the dormitory and threw open his trunk. Grabbing his school cloak he spread it out on the floor and piled his photo albums, the two-way mirror plus some underwear and socks on it and gathered his cloak around it all in a bundle. Then he stuffed the Marauder's Map in a pocket – making a mental note to get his Dad and Sirius and Remus to add the Room of Requirement to it. Then he reached for his broom.

"Going somewhere?"

Startled, Harry looked up – Ron was leaning against the wall next to the door. "Ron!"

"Where did you go? Woke up and found you gone! And what are you wearing?" Ron asked wide-eyed.

"Remus picked me up last night. Ron... my parents are alive again – my grandparents too." Harry grinned barely able to stop himself from jumping up and down. "And I'm wearing robes. You should know that – you're the one who grew up in a wizarding house."

"Your parents...?" Ron blinked

"...are alive, yes." Harry still grinned.

Ron gaped for a moment longer, then his face split in a huge grin. "HARRY! THATS BLOODY BRILLIANT!"

"I KNOW!" Harry laughed though he was taken a bit by surprise when Ron hugged him.

"Hem hem."

They immediately jumped apart and turned around to find Ginny and Hermione in the doorway.

"We heard you from downstairs. What's so 'bloody brilliant'?" Ginny asked, but she did not get a reply immediately as Hermione hugged Harry.

"Harry we were SO worried!" she exclaimed. "No note or anything – you were just gone – and Dumbledore wouldn't tell us anything!"

"Sorry," Harry extricated himself from Hermione's grasp. "I didn't mean to worry you. It's just all so amazing and we had a lot to talk about and then I was so tired and..." He stopped at Hermione and Ginny's bewildered looks.

"The Potters came back to live and..." Ron started to explain but the rest could not be heard as the girls both shrieked and hugged him so all he could see was a blur of red and brown.

When the girls had calmed down, Harry told them everything that had happened since he left. He could not believe it had been less than 24 hours.

----------

"...BELIEVE YOU... MY HORRIBLE SISTER... NOT LISTEN TO HARRY... HIRING TEACHERS LIKE THAT... SENILE OLD FOOL..."

Lily's furious shrieks were still ringing in James' ears as he walked towards Gryffindor Tower. As always, Dumbledore had been annoyingly calm and had explained everything and James understood him now. He still thought some things should have been done differently but he also knew that that was easy to say in hindsight.

After Lily had calmed down, his father had discussed with Dumbledore about how to announce their return and they had had the Minister floo over. Ever since Harry had killed Voldemort, the Ministry had been very good friends with Dumbledore and there had been no problems at all being declared alive again. Lily and his father had gone with the Minister to make an announcement while James got Harry.

When he reached the Fat Lady's portrait, he flashed her his most charming smile – atleast he hoped it was.

"James Potter!" she gasped.

"Hello!" James smiled cheerfully. "It had been far too long – I had forgotten your breathtaking beauty. Do tell me you still sing? It would be such a terrible shame to waste that marvellous voice of yours!"

The Fat Lady giggled and blushed. _Can't believe she's buying that... Oh well... hint what you want and a little more should do the trick._

"I haven't been here for so long. It certainly does bring back memories. It would be so nice to see Gryffindor Tower again. Did I mention how that colour robes bring out your eyes? And did you lose some weight? You look much more beautiful than I remember."

The Fat Lady giggled again. _Time to strike – final trumph._

"Is there any chance you'll let me see the tower once more? It would be so nice. Being dead for 15 years is no picnic, you know." James said and looked devestatingly sad.

"Oh of course dear, do take your time." The Fat Lady wiped a tear from her face and swung open. James stepped through and grinned. _Piece of cake. Prongs hasn't lost his touch. _Ignoring the staring Gryffindors, he climbed the staircase to the boy's dormitories and entered the 6th year dorms.

-----------

Harry gaped as his father burst through the door.

"How did you get in?" he exclaimed.

"No door is so shut that the Potter charm cannot open it." James grinned and looked at the others.

Harry rolled his eyes. "Riight... anyway, Dad these are my friends: Ron, Hermione and Ginny. Guys, this is my Dad."

Ron stared from Harry to James for a moment. "You do look alike!" he exclaimed and James chuckled. Hermione snorted and stepped forward.

"Mr. Potter..." she said. "I'm so pleased to meet you."

"Me too." James shook her hand. "Pleased to meet all of you. I've heard a lot about you. Hermione, smartest witch of her generation?"

Hermione blushed slightly and Ron stepped forward. "I've known Harry since the Hogwarts Express first year." He said.

"Yes I've heard that story." James grinned. "You remind me a bit of Sirius. And you, Hermione, remind me of Remus."

"What would that make me then?" Ginny grinned.

"You remind me of Lily."

Harry blushed at the comment and noticed that so did Ginny. He focused on his belongings on the floor.

"Are you ready to go, Harry?" James asked.

"Where are you going?" Ron exclaimed.

Harry looked at him and grinned. "Home..."

"Harry will stay with us for the weekend. He will return when lessons resume on Monday." James told them and Harry felt slightly disappointed – that was only two days...

"Alright – see you mate." Ron grinned and Hermione and Ginny hugged him again. Ginny smelled like roses. James then took his bundle and Harry took his broom.

"Where's Mum and grandpa?" Harry asked as they walked through the castle.

"Talking to the Daily Prophet." His dad replied and explained all that had happened. "Did you just smell Ginny's hair?"

Harry's heart jumped in shock." How did you know? Er... I mean, no of course not..." Harry felt his face heat up again and was grateful that they had just stepped outside.

He heard his father chuckle. "Because I did the same with Lily. You have a head start though... this one doesn't hate you..."

"Yeah well, she has 6 older brothers." Harry commented.

"Somehow I don't think that will be a problem." James grinned as he reached for Harry's arm and apparated them home.

Sirius and Remus showered them with questions the moment they appeared. James explained everything again. Lily and James' father had still not returned when he had finished explaining, so Sirius suggested that they go for a fly.

"Should you do that Sirius? Is is safe?" Harry asked as he did not want his godfather thrown back into prison.

"This house has more wards than Grimmauld Place – they won't be able to find me here." Sirius ensured him.

James nodded. "That's true – in fact Dumbledore agreed that Sirius would be better off staying here."

"Does that mean you're staying?" Harry lit up.

Sirius grinned. "yes, Harry, I'm staying."

"And we're going to work on a way to catch Wormtail." James added.

"James..." Sirius sighed but James shook his head.

"No Padfoot... we'll set it right... if we combine forces and work on it we'll find a way to catch him." He shot Sirius a determined look and Sirius had seen it often enough before not to question it.

"We can start by checking some books – there must be a way to track him." Remus commented.

"Moony... that could be a lot of work... you shouldn't..." Sirius objected.

Remus frowned. "We'll search till we find something. You did the same for me with the animagus thing. We'll figure something out Padfoot."

James felt his heart warm when Sirius smiled and accepted the help. But he was surprised when Harry spoke up.

"I'll help too." Harry said. "And I'm sure Ron and Hermione will too. Hermione might know something."

"Harry, we'll work it out. You should focus on school." James frowned.

"I'll help." Harry repeated and shot James' determined look right back at him and James knew there would be no discussion of the matter so he changed the subject.

"Right... so how about that flying?"

Harry could not stop smiling when he went to bed that night. He'd spent the evening flying with his dad and Sirius – with Remus watching from the ground while reading. His dad had gotten a snitch from the drawer in the desk in Harry's room and they had had a competition in catching it. Harry had caught it 7 times, James 5 and Sirius 2 times. Harry suddenly realized that it was the first time he'd seen Sirius fly. He was happy for Sirius. This seemed to be just what he needed. His best friend back and a chance to get away from that horrible house and have some fun. Harry fell asleep with that thought in his head and had a lovely dream about... roses?


	10. To Summon a Wand and Diagon Alley

**A/N Thank you everyone for the nice reviews. Some of you asked some questions which I have not answered. That's because I think the answers would be sort of spoilers. So I'll remain a bit secretive. Enjoy!  
****  
HappeeGoLuckee, you'll get one of your questions answered in this chapter :)**

Chapter 10: To summon a wand and Diagon Alley

Harry woke up around 8 AM and went downstairs to see if anyone else was up. He was rather pleased when he found only his parents in the kitchen. His mother was cooking breakfast and his father was paying the owl that had just delivered the Daily Prophet. In short – that was everything he had ever dreamed of.

"'Morning Mum, Dad." He greeted them happily. "How did it go yesterday Mum?"

"Good morning Harry," Lily smiled. "It was quite exhausting to tell you the truth – they had so many questions. We didn't get back until well after midnight. Is there anything about it in the Prophet, James?"

His father had been looking at the front page and he turned the newspaper around so they could see it. The front page was filled with pictures. Harry took the paper and studied the page. A large photo showed his mother and grandfather answering questions. Next to that was an equally large picture of himself, taken at the press conference he held a few days ago. Smaller pictures around the edges showed Potter Manor, Sirius' wanted poster, his parent's wedding picture, some pictures of himself when he was younger – and a picture of a charred house with a Dark Mark hovering above it. The single headline blared: THE FAMILY-WHO-LIVED – ALL ABOUT THE POTTERS

Harry frowned and his mother snatched the paper out of his hand and studied the frontpage for a moment as she frowned too. Then she read aloud:

_The story of Harry Potter is one that every child knows. Just last week The Chosen One defeated You-Know-Who and thus became our saviour. The Wizarding World has been rejoicing ever since.  
As it turns out young Harry is not the only one skilled at defying death. Most of us remember the tragical night when Harry's parents, Lily and James Potter, were killed in an attack on their home. Some of us might remember that the same fate fell upon James Potter's parents, Edward and Emily Potter. However, a series of extraordinary events have caused these four Potters to come back to life.  
Hogwarts Headmaster Albus Dumbledore calls the event "a chance for Harry Potter to finally get a somewhat normal life."  
We met with Harry's mother, Lily Potter, and the Potter patriarc, Edward Potter, for an exclusive interview about The Chosen One and what it is like to die.  
And on top of that, Lily Potter revealed that Sirius Black was not their secret keeper at all. Cont. page 2._

Lily sighed at threw the paper on the table where James had sat down. "They're removing our murders from the list of charges against Sirius. That's all I could do really. They wouldn't listen, they only wanted to ask about dying and a lot about Harry too."

James snorted. He had stopped leafing through the paper when he saw a larger version of Sirius' wanted poster and scanned the text. _"The Ministry reports that Sirius Black was sighted in Tibet just last week and aurors have been sent to apprehend him."_

"Yeah," Harry grinned. "The guy in charge of finding Sirius works for the Order."

"That explains a lot." His father grinned back. "The rest of this is all diagrams and old stories." He folded the paper up and put it aside.

As his mother served breakfast, Harry joined his parents at the table. He watched mostly in silence as his father eagerly told his mother about the bit of flying they'd done yesterday.

They spent a great deal of time looking through Harry's photo album and James got out a whole stack of albums from his school days.

Harry wondered why he had not seen anyone else all day. His father explained that his grandfather was busy working as the news that they were alive had resulted in an immense amount of owls about their various finances and properties all over the world.

Technically James should be helping, being the one who would take over after Edward, but Emily had thought that Harry should get some time with his parents and so she was helping instead.

"Dad?" Harry said when they had closed another photo album. "Can you show me how to do wandless magic?"

James beamed. When Harry was a baby, James used to watch him sleep and look forward to all the things they would do together when Harry was a bit older.  
He had missed teaching Harry to ride a broom. He had missed teaming up with him to prank Lily. He had missed Harry getting his first Hogwarts letter and taking him to buy school supplies. He had missed watching him get up at dawn for Christmas and he had missed most of Harry's birthdays. Next July 31st his son would come of age.

But at least he had not missed teaching Harry wandless magic – and he would not miss one more thing in his son's life if he could help it.

"Of course." He smiled at his son. "Do you want to do it now?"

Harry beamed and nodded.

"I'll leave you to it. I'll be in our room, reading" Lily smiled and left.

"Right... let's go over here..." he said and guided Harry with a hand on his shoulder.

Harry looked at him as he put his wand on a small table, walked a few feet away and summoned it.

"You try..."

James watched as Harry gulped slightly and put his wand on the table and returned to his spot.

"Am I supposed to... er... do anything?" Harry asked.

James smiled. "Here... hold your wand arm out like this – so you're ready to catch it." He motioned and Harry copied the position.

"Now focus on the wand... concentrate... and say the spell." He watched as Harry stared intently at the wand.

"Accio Wand."

Nothing happened.

Harry adjusted his footing slightly.

"Accio Wand."

Nothing.

James watched calmly. He did not expect anything to happen yet. It had taken him a whole summer vacation to learn. Harry frowned and clenched his jaw, glaring at the wand.

"ACCIO WAND!"

James' eyes widened in surprise when the wand shivered slightly on the table. James felt a surge of pride rush through him. _Just like when he took his first steps. _Harry, however, lowered his arm and looked dismayed

"That was great!" James cheered. "It takes a lot of practice to learn. But it moved! That's amazing really! I'm so proud of you!"

Harry smiled a little at the comment and turned to the table again, out-stretching his arm. He stared at the wand intently.

"ACCIO WAND!" Harry bellowed and the wand shivered on the table.

"ACCIO WAND! ACCIO WAND! --- ACCIO WAND!"

The wand shook heavily but stayed put. Harry sighed and looked at James who put a comforting hand on his shoulder.

"I think that's enough for today." He said and Harry frowned.

"You won't get it in a day Harry, " he said. "Most wizards can't even do wandless magic – it's very advanced. It took me a week to get it to even shake."

Sirius and Remus were back for dinner and Harry learned that they had gone to Grimmauld Place to get some of Sirius' things.  
That evening they were sitting in the soft couches in the living room.

"Harry, your father and I were thinking of paying my dear sister a visit tomorrow. Have a talk with her. We were wondering if you'd like to go with us?" Lily asked.

Harry beamed. "Really? I can come?"

"Of course you can." His father smiled. "And ideas about what to do with them are welcome. I'm sure you have many."

Harry smiled widely as some of the better ideas flashed through his mind.

As it turned out, not even 16 years of frustration could rival the inventiveness that surfaced when the Marauders put their heads together. And his Mum may have been a teacher's pet in school, but she could certainly be creative as well when she was in a vindictive mood.

They had discussed many ideas, some of which had included hippogrifs, levitating charms, some rather inventive transfiguration and colour charms.

In the end, however, they had reached the conclusion that they could not hex the Dursleys too obviously as it would be discovered. And it would not be quite as fun if the Ministry turned up and reversed any spells they'd leave behind.

Their plan would be set into action the next afternoon which was perfect because they needed some things from Diagon Alley – and they had to make a rather complicated potion which thankfully only took 2 hours to complete.

Harry could not wait for morning to come when he finally went to bed that night.

* * *

When Harry entered the kitchen the next morning, he found it empty except for Remus who looked a bit ill as he sipped his tea and read "A Comprehensive guide to Complicated Potions" by Philip Philter.

"Good morning, Remus." Harry smiled as Remus started and looked up at him.

"Oh! Good morning Harry." Remus closed his book and put it aside. "You're up early."

"Yeah, I'm sort of excited about today." He smiled. "And you?"

"I couldn't sleep." Remus replied.

"You look ill... is it tonight?" Harry asked as he started making breakfast.

Remus nodded. "But it should not be so bad. So many good things has happened. It will help."

Harry frowned. "I thought Wolfsbane let you keep control."

"Snape refuses to make it." Remus shook his head. "I can't say I blame him though..."

"But surely someone else can make it then?" Harry could not believe that it was not possible to find someone to make a potion. "I'm sure Hermione would help..."

"It's very complicated Harry. And Hermione should focus on her studies – I will not have her bother with this. Perhaps Lily can help next month... she was good at potions"

"Help with what potion?" Lily walked through the door.

"Wolfsbane," Harry explained. "It allows Remus to keep in control during his transformations."

"It's very complicated." Remus repeated, almost as if he didn't want someone to try and make it. But Harry knew he simply did not want to trouble his friends.

"Oh well we can always have a look at it." Lily smiled at him. "Just get me some instructions and I'll see what I can do."

Remus smiled back as Lily joined Harry in the breakfast making. He got up and set the table.

Harry was placing a plate of bacon on the table when James and Sirius joined them.

"Good morning, Padfoot, Prongs." Remus grinned. "Just in time to avoid having to help in the kitchen, are we?"

"Oh shut up, Wolfman." Sirius growled, but his expression betrayed that he was in a good mood.

James went to his wife who was tending to the eggs. "'Morning Flower," He put his arms around her and Lily turned in his embrace and kissed him quickly on the lips. He grinned and kissed her again, pulling her close. She giggled and put her arms around his neck.

Harry's eyes widened a bit at the show and he looked at Sirius who was rolling his eyes and Remus who had turned back to his book, chuckling lightly.

As Harry looked back at his parents, his Mum let out another giggle and he felt his face burn. BURN! Harry jumped up and reached around his Mum for the eggs which were starting to look blackened around the edges. He quickly summoned a large plate and transferred the eggs to it so the damage was limited.

"Oi, Prongs, Mrs. Prong, you're embarrassing your fawn – who just saved our breakfast by the way!" Sirius yelled and Lily shrieked and pushed James away, turning to the egg-less stove. Confused by the lack of eggs where there should have been some, she looked around and blinked at Harry who was now holding a plate of thoroughly cooked eggs.

"It's alright, I managed to save them." Harry said and thought his Mum seemed a bit dazed.

"Oh Harry!" He just managed to move the plate out of the way before she hugged him and kissed the top of his head. "Thank you, dear. And YOU..." she turned to James and put her hands on her hips "... should know better than to interrupt me while I'm cooking. If any of those eggs are ruined, you're the one who's having them!"

"But Lily..." James did not continue. Lily was annoyed and he'd be better off the let her cool down. Instead, he joined Sirius at the table and muttered. "My _fawn?_"

"Why yes," Sirius grinned. "if you're a deer – Harry must be your fawn."

"Oh... right..."

"Er, do I have any say in whatever you were discussing that had my name in it?" Harry asked as he sat down next to them.

"No..:" James and Sirius said simultaneously and Harry looked a bit worried.

"So, we need white robes, some sherbet lemons, tail hairs of a hippogrif and blood of a thestral." Lily read from a list and looked up "Is there anything else?"

"Well... no, " James said," But I'd really like to go to Quidditch Supplies and that jokeshop Harry's friends started... and I promised Padfoot I'd get him some new robes."

"So how about we get the robes first and then go to the apothecary's..."

"Oh that would be great!" Lily interrupted. "Then I could go home and make the potion while you boys look at brooms and jokes and sweets."

"Aw, I wish I could go.." Sirius pouted.

"We'll get you some Chocolate Frogs, Padfoot." James comforted and patted Sirius' shoulder.

* * *

Harry tumbled out of the fireplace in the Leaky Cauldron and landed at Remus' feet. He scrambled out of the way just in time to avoid being hit when his mum rolled out of the fireplace. He grinned and offered her a hand which she took and got to her feet. His dad walked out of the fireplace so elegantly that Harry felt a bit jealous.

"Tell me again, why did we floo?" His mum grumbled as she dusted off her robes.

"Because Harry can't apparate and it'd be unfair to apparate and leave him to floo on his own." His Dad explained energitically.

"James and Lily Potter!" Tom, the inn-owner exclaimed and went to greet them enthusiastically as Harry heard his mum mumble "I hate flooing."

"Welcome! Welcome! I didn't believe my eyes when I saw the paper yesterday! It is a wonderful day indeed!" Tom exclaimed as he shook their hands. The few customers craned their next and started gossiping but they did not come over.

"And Harry Potter! An honour also!" Tom continued and shook Harry's hand as well. "Such an honour..."

Harry smiled politely at the older man.

"Well," his father said. "We're here to do a bit of shopping, so we should be on our way."

"Oh yes! Of course!" Tom went back to his counter as they went through the inn.

They had only taken a few steps down the street before Diagon Alley went quiet and everyone stared at them. Even though Harry was used to being stared at by now, this was a bit too much and he felt very uncomfortable. His father, however, wasn't bothered at all. That is, until people recovered from their surprise and started flooding them with questions.

"James Potter!"

"Potter! Over here!"

"Lily Evans! What's it like to be dead?"

"Mr. Potter, what did you think when You-Know-Who cast that curse?"

"Will you be having a return-party?"

"James, did you meet your ancestors while you were dead?"

"Lily! Is it true you jumped in front of Harry to save him?"

Lily was shielding Harry and she was annoyed. Very annoyed – and she was close to exploding.

"ALRIGHT!" James yelled and everyone quieted down and looked at him.

"Look," he said. "I don't remember anything about being dead... only the green light – and darkness until I woke up a few days ago. I know you're curious, but there isn't much to tell. And to tell you the truth, it really it's a bit of an emotional subject to us. We are alive and well now– and we really just hoped to spend a day out with our son."

Silence dominated the street for a few seconds – then the crowd slowly dissolved and a few people came up to them and exchanged a quiet 'hello' or 'nice to see you again'.

* * *

"Now, remember to be back before 4 PM." Lily lectured them when they had bought robes and potions supplies.

"Yes Dear." James replied and kissed his wife before she disapparated. "So..." he grinned at his son. "Quidditch Supplies first?"

Harry grinned back and Remus cleared his throat. "I'll go have a look in Flourish and Blotts then..."

James enjoyed looking at Quidditch supplies with Harry and they spent an hour doing so. He bought Harry several Quidditch posters for his room and a book about advanced flying tricks too.

A few times people came up to shake hands with one of them, but most of the time people just stared and let them be.

They went to Weasley's Wizard Wheezes and were greeted by George in the door.

"Harry!"

"Hi George," Harry smiled. "This is my Dad. Dad, George Weasley."

"Mr. Potter, welcome to our humble shop. Do you enjoy the fine art of jokes?" George said in an overly formal tone.

"Why thank you, Mr. Weasley," James grinned, mimicking George's actions. "Your shop looks very promising indeed. And yes, as a matter of fact I do quite appreciate the mastery of a good prank. A Marauder never misses an opportunity to cause mischief."

Harry winced slightly.

"Excuse me?" George blinked. "Did you say a Marauder, Sir?"

"Well," James grinned, "my friends and I formed a little club while we were at Hogwarts. We called ourselves the Marauders and did a lot of pranks."

And that was the first time Harry had ever seen George Weasley speechless. He recovered quickly though and grinned broadly.

"Whoa, I'm deeply honoured! The Marauders are our idols! The kings of pranks! Welcome! Welcome to our shop! Messrs Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot and Prongs..." George smiled widely.

"Purveyors of Aids to Magical Mischeif-Makers" Fred finished as he appeared alongside his brother.

"Are proud to present THE MARAUDER'S MAP" They finished as one voice. Fred then looked questioningly at George who stared back for a moment and then Fred gasped and shook James hand eagerly.

James was a bit surprised at the twins' slightly odd behaviour.

"Yes, we made that..." he said and ruffled the back of his hair. "Harry told me you two nicked it from Filch. I'm grateful... and I'm glad it could help you."

"So which one are you?" Fred said.

"I'm Prongs." James grinned back.

Harry checked that the shop was empty and whispered. "Sirius is Padfoot and Remus is Moony."

George gaped. "We had a Marauder teach us for a year and we didn't know?"

"We will have to thank them properly too - next time we see them." Fred added. "So who's Wormtail then?"

James frowned. "Wormtail is not a Marauder anymore... Wormtail is Peter Pettigrew."

"Oh..."

* * *

"Now, Harry" James said as they sat at the ice cream parlour. "After our little visit with the Dursleys, it's extremely important that we get back home in time. It's a full moon and we can't risk setting Moony loose in a muggle neighborhood. And I need you to promise me you'll stay indoors tonight."

Harry nodded and looked at James "You're going to take him out, aren't you?"

"Yes," James confessed. "We can't just leave him to go through that alone. Not when we can be there."

"I know." Harry said and looked slightly sad. "Just... be careful, right? I don't want to lose my dad now that you just returned."

"Don't worry," James assured his son." Padfoot will be there too and we've done it many times before. We're practically professional werewolf guards."

Harry grinned. "Honestly Dad, everyone's right, sometimes your head does get a bit inflated."

Jaems grinned back "I know, just don't tell your mum or she'll deflate it for me. Speaking of romance, what are you going to do about that fiesty little redhead of your own?"

"We weren't speaking of romance, Dad..." Harry kept an impressively straight face despite his blushing.

"We were too... We were talking about your mum and that's romance to me... and you're avoiding the question." James retorted teasingly.

Harry frowned and did not say anything.

James was about to say something else when Harry whispered something.

"What did you say?" he asked quietly.

"She doesn't like me back..." Harry said sadly.

"Really?" James raised an eyebrow. "I think she does..."

"No," Harry shook his head. "She had a crush on me when she was younger because I was the Famous Harry Potter but she's over that now that she knows me."

"Well, at least give it a chance." James said. "She did hug you a bit long and she glanced at you a lot while you talked to Ron and Hermione."

"And why did you notice that?" Harry looked a bit happier.

James grinned. "Because I had a feeling that you liked her and so I kept an eye on her. You should ask her out."

"Nah, I don't think so." Harry said.

"Well, think about it." James said and after that he stopped pressing the subject. Harry obviously needed some time. Now, it was time to go home and prepare their little visit to the Dursleys.


	11. Mrs Dursley's Living Nightmare

**A/N Ah, yes - the chapter necessary in most James/Lily lives fics. But that doesn't make it any less fun to write. I hope you like it. And now I present: The Yelling at the Dursleys Chapter! ENJOY - And thanks to all my faithful reviewers. **

Chapter 11 – Mrs.Dursley's Living Nightmare

James and Harry found Lily in the kitchen where she had cleared the counter and set up a cauldron. The cauldron contained a navy blue, thick substance which bubbled lazily while Lily double checked the instructions.

"Oh, I thought it was Sirius…" she said when they entered and she looked a bit disappointed.

"Nice to see you too Lily," James pretended to look hurt. "You know, as your husband I find it slightly disturbing that you would rather see my best friend."

She rolled her eyes at him. "You know very well that Sirius wouldn't get anywhere near me like that – he knows you'd hex him."

Lily turned her back to James – Harry could tell it was to hide her grin – as she added as an afterthought. "Pity really, he's such a bad boy… and you know that's _very_ attractive to a good girl like me…"

"Ew – that is just _wrong_, Lily – on so many levels." James scrunched his nose and peered into the cauldron. "Er… is this supposed to be so… er… slimy?"

"Of course it is!" she exclaimed and pointed to the spot in the instructions where it indeed said that. "It will get better when it's done."

James swallowed a lump in his throat as Harry looked at the contents of the cauldron too.

"Ugh," his son said. "Glad this one isn't for me. Why do most potions have to be so foul anyway?"

James took that as a rhetorical question – Lily, however, did not. "Well, often additional ingredients to improve the taste would react with the actual ingredients of the potion and that would change the potion's effect. And then many potions are meant to taste horrible so you do not get addicted to them." She explained with a smile.

"Oh..." Harry said. "I wish we had you for Potions instead of Snape."

"So do I, Harry…" James said. "I can't believe that git is a teacher. I don't care what Dumbledore says. Snape is a Death Eater. Always sneaking around practicing Dark Arts…"

But before he could launch into a longer rant about Snape, Sirius burst through the door.

"Got it!" he beamed and passed a small vial to Lily. It contained a single, long, black hair.

"Sorry for the wait, Lily." Sirius apologised. "Buckbeak seemed to miss me so he wanted a lot of attention in exchange for that."

"That's fine Sirius," Lily replied, fished the hair out of the vial and checked the instructions. "Add one tail hair of a Hippogrif, stir 25 times clockwise and wait for the potion to assume a strong, yellow colour."

They all watched as she followed the instructions and the potion's colour began to change.

"Sirius, you should go and wake up Remus. He came home early and went to rest." Lily said and Sirius left the room.

"Add one cup of Thestral blood and stir three times counter-clockwise." Lily read out loud and took out a vial filled with black liquid.

"Do Thestrals even have that much blood?" Harry asked as Lily added the last ingredient and the potion turned into a shimmering, clear liquid – if still a bit thick.

"There's about 3 cups in one Thestral as far as I can remember." James replied. He felt relieved that the potion looked so much better now.

"All we need now is to change robes and we're ready to go." Said Lily as she filled two vials with potion. "Right then, we'll meet in the hall in five minutes."

* * *

The residents of Privet Drive had all sat down for dinner as the clock chimed 6 in the evening. Had they looked out their windows, they would not have believed their eyes when five people materialised out of nowhere with a pop – right in Mrs. No. 4's flowerbed no less!

And they would have thought themselves mad when one of the men disappeared and a black dog stood in his place.

Harry watched as his parents went over their white robes and his dad put a spell on himself and Lily to remove all colour from them. They emptied a vial of potion each and Remus handed them the sherbet lemons.

Then Harry, Remus and Sirius crawled into position under the window where they would be able to watch the show.

James watched his wife as the potion they had taken began to work and she slowly turned transparent. He grinned. Along with the anti-colour filter spell he had performed, she looked like a good imitation of a ghost. If you'd never seen a real one, that is. Lily grinned back at him.

Receiving the all ready sign from Remus, they plopped the sherbet lemons in their mouthes and apparated directly into the Dursleys' dining room.

A shriek to rival the whistle of the Hogwarts Express split the air, quickly followed by the sound of breaking china.

James had a hard time keeping a straight face as Lily's sister dropped the bowl of soup she had been carrying. If it were not to keep up the show, he would have been rolling on the floor laughing. Well, above the floor really – as the sherbet lemons kept him floating a bit.

"Petuniaaa…" Lily said as she floated closer to her sister.

"Y… you're d…dead…" Petunia stuttered and looked extremely pale.

"I'm a witch," Lily replied and ignored the fact that the table's three occupants had twitched as much as most witches and wizards did if you said 'Voldemort'. "and as a **witch**, do you really think I could not find a way to return to haunt you, hmm?"

"Get out of my house!" Petunia's hippo-sized husband muttered, having apparently mustered a bit of courage.

"We'll decide that." James said and floated to Lily's side. "Now we would like to discuss the care of our son – or rather the lack of same."

"He is a freak!" Petunia shrieked. "And despite that, we gave him a roof over his head and food!"

"Only just enough to survive!" Lily shrieked back and James wondered how long the filter spell would block their colours. Lily's hair always seemed to grow redder when she was angry and her eyes sparked with fury.

"I can't believe you Petunia!" Lily continued. "We're family! Harry is your flesh and blood! How could you?"

"Oh like it is my fault that you marry that and run off and get blown up! Never have I heard of such irresponsible…"

"Oh as if you even know what happened!" Lily yelled and James winced as her hair got a slightly pink tinge to it. "And it shouldn't matter! If something happened to you, I wouldn't hesitate to take in your son and TREAT HIM PROPERLY!"

"He is a freak!" Petunia's husband had gotten up and James briefly marvelled that that was physically possible. "We tried to make him normal! We tried to keep it out of him!"

"By locking him under the stairs?" James asked in a deadly calm voice.

"By then it was too late! We didn't want him to infect Dudley with his freakiness!"

"MAGIC IS NOT A DISEASE!" Lily roared and with a shimmer her anti-colour filter fell.

Vernon took a step back in surprise as the ghost certainly gained colour. James sighed. So much for that – well, atleast they made quite an entrance. He swallowed his sherbet lemon and landed on the floor with a soft thud. A second thud let him know that Lily had done the same. Waving his wand he removed his own anti-colour filter too.

Vernon and Petunia gaped at them stupidly. The whale-boy they called their son slowly slid off his chair and tip-toed towards the door as if he honestly thought they could not see him. James decided to let him go and sat down on the now empty chair and helped himself to a slice of bread.

The two Muggles just stared as he devoured their bread.

"Yes," Lily broke the silence. "We're alive."

"And not very pleased with you." James added and leaned back in the chair, resting his knee on the table.

"So true," Lily pulled out her wand and summoned a large piece of roast beef from the kitchen. "And we have a lot to discuss, so let's have dinner while we talk."

She turned and waved at the window and seconds later Harry, Remus and Padfoot entered.

"You!" Vernon exclaimed and got up and lunged for Harry. But James was quicker and a second later, Vernon sat on his chair in a full body bind.

Petunia screamed loudly as Sirius transformed back into human form and sneered at her for effect.

Lily ignored that and conjured three more chairs and started putting slices of roast beef on everyone's plates as Petunia looked like she might explode. Yet, she did not say anything.

"So," Lily said conversationally as she put a small piece of roast beef on Vernon's plate – even though he could not move and therefore could only stare at it. He was entertaining himself by glaring at Harry who completely ignored it and happily ate the several large, thick slices his mum had put on his plate. "I'm feeling very enraged about the treatment of my son."

"Well, since you're not dead anyway, perhaps you can look after your offspring yourself." Petunia replied icily and cast a wary glace at Sirius.

"Oh don't worry," James said as he stabbed a green bean rather enthusiastically. "You will never see him again if it is up to us."

"Good," Petunia said. "and you do realise you owe us a good deal of money, yes? Raising a child is not cheap."

Harry snorted loudly at that but didn't seem to wish to add anything to the conversation.

"If you had treated him properly, yes" Lily said. "But as it is – you're not getting as much as a knut."

"Oh really? Well you probably don't have the money! Are you sure you can even support the boy? Running off at such a young age, marrying the first good-for-nothing boy who would have you. Or perhaps the child was an accident? Couldn't wait, could you? You little…"

Petunia did not finish for James had let out a roar and jumped to his feet – wand pointing straight at Petunia's face.

"Take… that… back…" he hissed as the table started shaking. Petunias eyes flickered from the wand to the shaking table but she remained tight lipped. The others were holding on to the tableware so it would not fall.

"James…" Remus tried but James ignored him.

"Lily may be your sister," he seethed. "but you will not talk like that to my wife. Apologise."

Petunia still did not say anything until James' anger made his wand shoot little sparks at which she yelped. "I'm sorry!" and added. "Please don't kill us."

James lowered his wand at that. "We're not going to kill you." He assured her quietly.

"In fact," Lily said as she caught his eye and jerked her head towards the clock on the wall. "We will leave soon. We'll just leave a little… what shall we call it? Oh whatever… it's revenge. Did you know witches can really cast curses, Petunia? Well, here's mine…"

Lily swished her wand and a bluish light shot around the house.

"For locking Harry in that cupboard… every time you open any cupboard or wardrobe – it will wail like a baby. And don't bother moving – it will follow. James?"

"For starving my son." James said and sent out three shots of yellow. One for Vernon, one for Petunia and one hit the curtain by the door which let out a squeal. "Your food will not taste of anything. Perhaps that will help your son lose some weight. Harry? Now is the time if there is anything you want to add."

Harry was already beaming. _This was brilliant! What could he have to add? What would Aunt Petunia really hate? Oh yes, there was one thing…_

"Could you wilt her flowers?"

James grinned. "Infertile garden? Certainly…" he flicked his wand. "Sirius, Remus? Anything to add?"

Sirius opened his mouth, but Remus stopped him before he could say anything. "I think that's more than enough. And we really need to go…"

"Right… Harry, do you have any belongings here that you need?" James smiled at his son.

"No," Harry shook his head. "Let's just go…"

"Well, bye then – and thank you for dinner Mrs. Dursley." James said as the others disapparated. Then he quickly released Vernon and disapparated with Harry.

As soon as they appeared outside Potter Manor, Harry hugged him. "That was brilliant Dad!"

"Glad you're happy." James ruffled his son's hair affectionately. "Now get inside before the moon rises."

Harry nodded and went to wish Sirius and Remus a good night. James kissed Lily good night and watched as his wife and son walked towards the house. Once they were safely inside he turned to his friends.

* * *

Lily and Harry watched from the window as the Marauders sat down on the grass in the garden and waited. Harry hugged his mum as the moon appeared from behind the clouds and Remus began his transformation.

"Poor Remus…" Lily whispered as she watched her husband change into a magnificent stag.

Sirius had changed into his dog form and when Moony raised his snout and howled at the moon, Padfoot joined in.

Harry sighed and guided his mother away from the window and towards the kitchen where they made som hot chocolate and talked until late at night while listening to the occasional howls.

_

* * *

She seemed to be moving in slow motion as she mounted her broom and took off. The wind played with her hair, making it look like flames licking her head. Once in a while her robes flew up and revealed her bare legs underneath. She flung her hair out of her eyes as she turned her head and looked directly at him and smiled invitingly._

_Suddenly, she was on the ground in front of him and she kissed him passionately as she pressed herself against him. Grinning, she took his hand and pulled him towards the showers…_

"Harry! Wake up Dear…" a voice called.

Harry groaned and turned over, hoping against hope to be able to return to his dream. It has been such a nice dream.

"Wake up Harry…"

He fumbled for his glasses and put them on to see his grandmother throwing his things into a trunk he did not recognise.

"Can't I sleep a bit longer, Grandma? It got late last night…" he asked.

"No, you need to go back to Hogwarts. So hurry downstairs and have some breakfast. Your lessons start in an hour." She said, putting his school robes on the table in the corner of the room before leaving.

"Bugger…" Harry exclaimed and jumped out of bed and threw the robes on. Five minutes later he charged into the kitchen but what he saw make him stop in his tracks.

His father was sitting on a chair – bent forwards as his mother dabbed a slimy looking purple potion onto a large claw mark on his side.

"Dad! What happened?" he exclaimed.

"Don't worry, Harry, I'm fine." James winced as Lily started to heal the wound.

"We were a bit out of shape." Sirius said as he watched the claw mark on James' side twist together and reduce to angry red lines. Harry noticed that Sirius' left arm sported a newly healed wound of his own.

"Have some breakfast, Harry…" his mum said and shoved a plate of toast in front of him as he sat down.

"What's your first class?" his dad asked as he pulled some clean robes over his head.

"Transfiguration." Harry managed to say between mouthfuls.

"Ooooh McGonagall – you'd better not be late then."

"I'm taking him now James." Lily said somewhat sharply. "And you two should go get some sleep."

"Right." James said and hugged Harry. "Do write, Harry – and remember what we talked about."

Harry's heart made a strange jump at the comment and he hoped James couldn't feel it as he hugged him back.

"I'll see you at Christmas – if not before." James said and looked at him sadly.

Harry did not want to leave so soon. Though on the other hand he did miss Ginny… and Ron and Hermione of course.

He hugged Sirius goodbye too and asked them to say goodbye to Remus for him and then the two Marauders went to get some sleep.

After Harry has swallowed his last bite of toast, Lily summoned his apparantly new trunk and side-along apparated with him. They materialised outside the gates of Hogwarts and rushed over the grounds towards the castle.

Outside the castle doors his mother hugged him tightly and kissed his forehead.

"You should go now…" she said and looked at him sadly.

"Aw, Mum, don't be sad… I'll be back before you know it." He grinned and ran a hand through his hair nervously, hoping she was not going to cry.

The action made Lily smile and she reached out and tried to flatten his hair with her hand. When she let go the hair simply returned to sticking out at all angles and she laughed.

Harry laughed too but stopped abruptly when he heard the clock strike, marking the beginning of the lesson.

"Bugger!" he exclaimed.

"Go!" Lily urged. "I'll give your trunk to the house elves."

Harry nodded and hugged her quickly. "Bye Mum."

Then he took off and sprinted towards the Transfiguration classroom. He did not catch the staircase before it changed though and he had to wait impatiently for it to return.

He was ten minutes late when he reached to classroom and forced himself to breathe more calmly before he entered.

"Sorry I'm late." He apologised as he joined Ron and Hermione at their usual table.

Professor McGonagall just gave him a quick nod and her eyes seemed to smile at him for a fraction of a second – then she continued the lesson and Harry wondered if he had just imagined it.


	12. Books and Pictures

**A/N Sorry for the long wait... I haven't forgotten the story, I've just been a bit too busy to type it in. I've been participating in the re-enactment of the Battle of Hastings which required me sewing a lot of clothes and of course the travelling. But I'm back now with only school to delay my updates :) **

**197 reviews - woohoo! Thank you so much to everyone who reviews :)**

Chapter 12: Books and Pictures

Only a few moments after Harry had arrived in McGonagall's class did he realise that his books were still in Gryffindor Tower. He winced at the realisation but then Ron pushed his book closer to Harry so they could share.

"Thanks…" Harry whispered and Ron shrugged in reply before getting a piece of parchment. He scribbled something and pushed it towards Harry.

Making sure that McGonagall was not looking, he read the note. "How was your weekend?"

"Brilliant! I'll tell you everything after class." He wrote back and pushed the parchment back, ignoring a glare from Hermione.

"We have stuff to tell you too…" came the reply moments later.

But Ron did not elaborate and Harry spent the lesson both wondering what Ron and Hermione had to tell and processing everything that had happened the past few days.

"And Aunt Petunia's face was priceless! I'll have to show you in a pensieve later…" Harry laughed as they walked into the History of Magic classroom. For once Harry was happy about having this class because it meant him and Ron could whisper together.

"So… what did you have to tell me?" Harry asked.

"Well, everyone has been celebrating of course." Ron said and grinned. "But we've also received a lot of owls. They want to make chocolate frog cards with us on them. And we've been asked to pose for poster photos too. The four of us together."

Harry swallowed a lump. He did not really care about getting on the chocolate frog cards or posters. In fact, he'd rather not.

_What did you expect? _That little voice that sounded like Hermione said in his mind. _Did you really think that as soon as you beat Voldemort people would just ignore you? You're their hero… _

Harry winced. With everything that had happened with getting his family back he had actually forgotten he was famous - more famous now than ever before.

He looked at Ron who couldn't stop grinning as he went on about getting a chocolate frog card and when he glanced at Hermione she was smiling slightly too – and she did not shush them despite the fact that Ron was now talking quite loudly.

Suddenly Harry remembered back in first year when he and Ron had looked in the Mirror of Erised. This was a dream come true for Ron. This was an achievement none of Ron's brothers had done before him. It meant so much more to Ron than it did to Harry – and Harry couldn't take that away from his best friend. So he would just have to pull himself together and get it over with.

"That's great!" He grinned back at Ron who had just thrown his hands into the air when telling that they were in consideration for an Order of Merlin, First Class.

Later that evening they were the only ones still up in the common room. Harry was amazed how much catching up they had to do when they had only been apart for a few days. Ron was splayed on the floor in front of the fireplace and Hermione was sitting in an armchair with a book in her lap but she had not read in it the past four hours. Ginny was on the couch with her feet up, taking up two seats. The third seat was occupied by Harry who was trying to sit as far from Ginny as possible so as to not show any sign of his feelings. 

"Hermione, do you know of a way to track down a certain wizard?" he asked when he was sure they were alone. "Dad, Remus and Snuffles are going to try to figure out a way to find Wormtail."

Hermione frowned. "Well, I'm sure it can be done but how… it would probably be very advanced magic – or very dark. Most likely both because if it was easy the Ministry would have tried something like that to find Sirius, wouldn't they?"

Harry's heart sank. He had not thought of that.

"Of course," Hermione continued. "The Ministry are not always the brightest so perhaps it is indeed manageable. We'd have to do some studying on the subject."

Ron added a groan to the conversation.

"Oh shut up!" Ginny said and kicked him softly. "Don't you want to help Snuffles? I'll help – even if it does involve studying."

After having kicked her brother she put her legs back up on the couch. Harry had to suppress a gasp as she put her foot on his knee.

"Thank you Ginny!" Hermione smiled, obviously happy with this new project. "I assume you will join us, Harry?"

"Oh… uh… yeah." He croaked, trying to ignore the fact that his knee was tingling strangely where Ginny's foot was touching it. It felt like every nerve ending in his entire body had suddenly decided to take up residence in his knee.

* * *

The week passed quickly and Saturday morning came and with it came a beautiful sooty owl which dropped a letter in front of Harry at breakfast. The owl looked at him expectantly and he offered it some of his toast, which it took and flew off. 

Harry opened the letter and smiled. A neat script filled the page:

_Dear Harry,_

_I hope you had a good week. This letter was delivered by our new owl, Smudge. Remind me to never let your father name our owls again... _

_Everything is well here. We spend most of our time working through books to find a solution to our canine problem. Your father sewed Snuffles stuck in his bed last night, so you can guess how it sounded this morning when he woke up! _

_Remus is staying for a while too to help with our project. Your grandfather has gone to Athens on a business trip. Athens has a very old wizarding community, you know. The entrance is in the Parthenon – you step on a series of specific tiles and then you fall through the floor! Your father took me to see it once for our summer holiday._

_Oh yes… as your mother, it is mandatory for me to add the following:_

_Stay out of trouble, make sure to get your sleep, do your homework, brush your teeth, eat real food, be polite, and stay inside the tower after curfew. _

_I hope that you have inherited some of my genes too and not just James' because in that case I'm sure my 'mother words' were in vain. _

_I already can't wait to get you home for Christmas… We miss you…_

_Love,_

_Mum_

By the time Harry finished reading the letter he was grinning widely. That was when he noticed that there was another page – written in a different handwriting.

_Dear Harry,_

_Just a short note since I'm sure your mother has told you most of what is going on. I've ordered two of the new Nimbus 2100s so it's possible for us to go for a fly in between all the reading. That also means that we'll be able to play some Quidditch when you get back. I'm just guessing your mum didn't tell you that and I thought you'd find it interesting. _

_Apart from that I only have one thing to say: Get your Gryffindor guts together and do something about that girl! (I don't have to send you a howler about it, do I?)_

_Love,_

_Dad_

Harry half laughed, half winced at the thought of a howler yelling at him for the whole hall to hear about that touchy subject. He carefully rolled the letters up so no-one would read them.

After breakfast they went to the library. Despite his complaints Ron did join them and they all went to work on the pile of books Hermione had collected from various shelves.

By dinnertime, their optimism had suffered some hard blows. They still had not found anything even remotely relevant.

Feeling slightly dismayed they went to dinner where Harry mostly listened to the others talking about the photo shoot. Ginny was rather excited by it and Hermione seemed to have been caught by Ginny's mood as the two girls started giggling about it. Ron happily joined their conversation once in a while.

_She does have a beautiful laugh… like the sound of water trickling in a creek. Look at her hair, how it catches the candlelight… _

_Harry shook his head, hoping to shake the thought out through his ears. It did not really work that well. _

_You might as well accept it, Potter, you've fallen head over heels for Ginny Weasley. It won't go away just because you deny it._

And the thoughts stayed. After dinner, Harry went to the Room of Requirement to practice his wandless magic but he could not concentrate and the wand only vibrated slightly. With a sigh he gathered all his concentration on the wand one last time for today.

"ACCIO WAND!"

The wand jumped on the table and rolled off onto the floor and under a dresser.

"Bugger." Harry muttered and got onto his stomach to reach under the dresser to retrieve his wand.

He pulled a face as his hand found something else – some sort of nest… ugh… who knows what sort of nasty creatures would dwell there. Moving on, his fingers found the wand. Pulling it out, he thought of the irony of the fact that in that situation it had been nice if he could have just summoned it.

It was after curfew so he pulled out the Marauders' Map before he left the Room of Requirement. As he activated it, he realised that he had forgotten to have The Marauders add the room to the map. Harry began making his way to the Gryffindor common room, mentally kicking himself all the way there.

Returning to the dormitories, he had a cold shower before he went to bed. It was highly uncomfortable and he had to remind himself to breathe as he gasped under the cold water. But not even that could evict his best mate's sister from the depths of his mind and so he dreamt of her again.

* * *

James couldn't concentrate on 'Olde and Forgotten Bewitchments and Charmes'. His eyes were drawn to Lily and he would never stop marvelling at how beautiful she looked when she was fully absorbed in a book. She bit her lip as she read and he abandoned all hope of regaining his concentration. He studied how her fiery red hair fell around her shoulders and the milky white skin of her neck. James let his eyes follow the curve of her neck as it changed into her collarbone and disappeared under her robes just an inch above the spot where he knew he had left a mark last night… 

"James… stop staring at my breasts… you're supposed to be reading…" Lily suddenly said in a bored voice without even looking up from her book.

Sirius laughed. "Caught in the act, mate…"

"So what?" he grinned back. "She's my wife – I can stare if I want to."

"Not when you're supposed to be reading." Lily frowned at him.

"But I can't concentrate… these books are too common – we won't find anything here." He said and went to look through a more dusty isle of Potter Manor's library. Remus had moved in with every book he owned and Sirius had looked through the library of Grimmauld Place and brought the first ten boxes of books to look through.

They had been poring over the dusty books for a fortnight now but they had still not found the slightest useful spell, potion or charm. The closest had been an old tracking spell but it required blood of the individual they wanted to find AND some recently worn clothes. Since they had neither, it was useless.

Sirius let out a sigh of his own and threw "Prohibited Potions and Shady Spells" on top of James' abandoned book.

"There is nothing." He frowned. "I'm bored…"

"Of course there is something somewhere." Remus assured them. "If it's possible, there is a book about it somewhere."

"And with magic, anything is possible." Lily added with a smile.

"Yeah well, can we go for a fly?" Sirius asked.

James grinned in reply.

The brooms James had ordered had arrived a few days ago and since then their studying had sometimes been interrupted by a bit of flying which always seemed to clear their tired minds.

"I'll bring this along to watch then." Remus said and got up. Lily shook her head and went off to do something else.

Soon they were outside. Since they were only two, there was not much fun in playing Quidditch, so instead they flew around practicing tricks and just enjoyed the late autumn sun on the last orange and yellow leaves.

James watched as Sirius took a dive and continued it into a loop with a cheer. James followed with a dive and spiralled out of it.

As he came out of the dive and began to ascend again, he thought about how nice things were at the moment. If only they could catch Peter so Sirius could be free – then all would be well.

James let his mind wonder to their different adventures at Hogwarts. They had studied hard before – especially when working out how to become animagi and how to make the Marauder's Map. Not to mention all the pranks they had researched spells for. But animagi had taken a lot of studying Transfiguration – and mostly from books that could not be found in the Hogwarts library. But Potter Manor had helped then and it would help now. Potter Manor's library contained many ancient books and many subjects. It had also proved its worth when they needed to plot the people into the Marauder's Map. _Hang on… plot the people?_

"Guys! I have an idea!" James yelled and sped to the ground. Sirius joined him as Remus ran over.

"Well?"

"The Marauder's Map! It tracks people inside Hogwarts – so perhaps we could make a map of Britain and extract the information of Peter's whereabouts from it!"

Sirius and Remus stared at him.

"Er… James… you do remember how long it took us to make that map, right?" Sirius asked.

"It would be an enormous project…" Remus said.

"… but it can be done." James finished.

Sirius frowned. "It would be impossible to see all the names at the scale we'd need to make it."

"Well…" James thought. "Perhaps we won't need it to show all the people all the time. Perhaps if we got it to work like the Hogwarts one at first, we could add some extra features…"

"Such as to only show the person we ask for." Remus said.

"It would be a lot of work though. If we work full time on it, it will still take us at least a year…" James guessed, feeling a strong urge to get started now that they had something to work with.

_

* * *

Come on, it'll be over soon enough. Why are you dreading this? It might be fun! A normal teenage boy would just have fun with his friends… Didn't you want to be normal? _

Thoughts floated Harry's head as he and his friends walked to the classroom Dumbledore had made available for the photographers who worked for the Chocolate Frogs and poster manufacturers.

Then his mind went blissfully blank as they climbed a set of stairs and he got a spectacular view of Ginny's backside. She was wearing fashionable light blue robes which clung to her body just right. By the time they reached the top of the stairs he felt slightly dazed.

He was still recovering when they entered the classroom to find two photographers waiting for them. The desks had been moved aside and a large screen had been put up on the wall. The wizard shook their hands but Harry didn't catch his name since he had only been able to focus on half of what the man was saying. _Is Ginny part Veela?_ _If she is, how come you haven't noticed before?_

Harry heard the photographer clap his hands and ask a question and suddenly Ginny strode in front of the screen which changed to show the Gryffindor Common Room with a cosy fire in the fireplace.

Ginny looked like she had done this for years. She managed to look very beautiful and fierce at the same time. Harry made a mental note to stuff himself with Chocolate Frogs until he got her card.

_What are you going to do with the card once you get it? Hmm? _

Ron went next and the background automatically changed to the Quidditch Pitch. He was not as good a model as his sister who was currently filling out a questionnaire she had been handed by the photographer. Ron looked nervous.

"Straighten your back… try to look a bit more confident. That's it…"

Once Ron finished, Hermione went forwards, looking expectantly at her background. It blinked quickly and Harry registered something with a grass field before it changed to a library.

As Hermione had her photos taken with some comments from Ginny, Harry wondered what the background would change into when he stood in front of it. _Would it be Hogwarts? The Burrow? Potter Manor? Or maybe a Quidditch Pitch like Ron? _

Hermione finished fairly quickly and Harry took a deep breath before he went to stand in front of the screen. It changed into a dark sky split by a single lightning.

Harry swallowed and ran a hand through his hair nervously before catching himself in the action. Oh well, his hair would always be messy anyway. He smiled nervously at the photographer and the guy snapped a picture. Harry blinked in surprise – he had expected some sort of directions. The photographer chuckled and told him to move his feet a bit.

"Wait a moment!" Ginny ran over and ruffled his hair wildly before moving a few strands out of his eyes and adjusting his robes on the back so they fit a bit tighter. Flashing him a smile, she went back to Ron and Hermione.

Still able to feel her hands in his hair, Harry grinned rather happily at the camera and the photographer quickly took a lot of pictures.

Then he handed Harry a questionnaire too. He joined his friends and started filling out the parchment. **What are your plans for the future? What are your hobbies? What is your favourite dessert? If you were granted one wish, what would it be?**

The other photographer was much more fun. She asked them for a few basic poses and then let them joke around. Since it was a group photo, they goofed around a lot. As they walked back to the common room, Harry decided that it hadn't really been that bad and he was glad that he had agreed to go for the others seemed to have had a great time.


	13. A Perfect Opportunity

**A/N Pats my own shoulder for having another chapter this soon Well, not much to say here - except that I should be doing my school project instead of writing. Oh well, writing is more fun. Personally, I really like this chapter, so I hope you do too...**

Chapter 13: A Perfect Opportunity

The first snow came with the beginning of December and Harry had still not mustered the courage to ask Ginny out.

He felt torn. On one hand, he wanted nothing more in the entire world than to be able to hold the redhead in his arms. On the other hand, somehow asking her that simple question was ten times more terrifying than facing Voldemort. And ignoring the problem had not worked at all.

Everything somehow made him think of her. The fact that she was on the Quidditch team did not help either. During practice Harry had often found himself admiring her instead of searching for the snitch – which could turn out disastrous when they were playing Slytherin this afternoon.

Staring out the window at the falling snow, Harry tried his old Occlumency exercises, hoping they could help him empty his mind.

No luck…

He sighed deeply and closed his eyes, pressing his forehead against the cold window.

_Why would she want him? **She's fancied you since before she met me! **Yeah, but now she knows me and she's long over it. **Is she? She did smile at me for a long time at breakfast today. **That was a smile_ _it doesn't necessarily mean anything._

An hour later Harry stood in the Gryffindor Team's changing room and felt somewhat more focused. He had forced himself to stare at the coat rack as Ginny changed into her Quidditch robes. He could not afford to lose this match because he was distracted by a girl... _Woman._

As the game began and he rose into the air, he saw something he had not seen in years. There, on the back row of the Gryffindor stands sat an enormous shaggy black dog. Next to the dog sat a man with jet black hair that was as unruly as Harry's own.

Harry laughed to himself when he realized the dog had a leash on and looked rather disgruntled.

Pushing his new audience from his mind, Harry rose above the other players and started searching for the snitch.

"So… Little Hawwy got his precious parents back…" Malfoy ascended so that he was level with Harry. "So you're all one big, happy family now? Isn't that cute..:"

Harry didn't answer – he kept looking for the snitch.

"They didn't deserve it…" Malfoy continued, obviously trying to distract him. "Pity really that your father should dirty himself by marrying a filthy mudblood."

Harry clenched his jaw to keep from answering and they were quiet for a while.

"The Weasel Girl is very vulnerable on a broom – high in the air…" Malfoy suddenly said in a cold voice.

Harry looked at Malfoy and felt his stomach clench. Malfoy was looking at Ginny with a contemplative expression. Ginny had just caught the quaffle when Malfoy dived.

Harry swore loudly as his heart jumped into his throat and he followed Malfoy's dive. He soon caught up with the Slytherin seeker. Harry vaguely heard Luna commentate that perhaps they had seen the snitch, but he only heard part of it as Malfoy tried to push him off his broom.

Meanwhile Ginny had flown towards the goal posts and to his horror Harry saw Crabbe and Goyle flying towards her. Pushing Malfoy hard enough to veer him off course, Harry sped towards Ginny who was caught between Crabbe and Goyle. She looked annoyed as she slammed sideways into Goyle, causing him to almost loose balance.

Malfoy slammed full force into Harry's side, causing him to roll in the air to regain his balance. Goyle flew away after Ginny's attack and Harry aimed for Crabbe as he got closer to them.

A second later Malfoy crashed into Ginny and Crabbe's bat connected with Harry's head.

A sharp pain split through his head and Harry felt his glasses slip off and the only thing he could see clearly was the many black spots which formed in front of his eyes. He could make out a scarlet blur and two green blurs – all of which kept slamming into each other.

Feeling slightly panicked he reached out his right hand and concentrated on picturing his glasses clearly in his head.

"ACCIO GLASSES!!"

A moment later he automatically closed his hand around his glasses and he hurriedly put them on. Quickly taking in the situation, he noticed that Malfoy now sported a rapidly swelling black eye and Crabbe had a nosebleed. He felt a surge of pride for Ginny. _Vulnerable, indeed… Never underestimate my Ginny._

That was when he spotted it. The snitch was hovering calmly about 2 feet above the head of a first year Gryffindor.

Malfoy was busy with Ginny but she seemed to be handling the Slytherins well enough. Turning abruptly, Harry zoomed towards the stands where he quickly ascended to match the sloping stands. Stretching out his arm, he closed his fingers around the small golden ball.

He heard the whistle blow and exhaled deeply in relief when he saw Ginny land safely.

"Harry! Are you alright?" Ginny shouted at him when he landed. Dean and Seamus had run into the field to hold Ron back from pummeling Malfoy.

"I'm fine…" Harry breathed thought his head pounded. "You?"

"Nothing serious… but you're bleeding!" Ginny exclaimed and looked worried – and Harry realized that blood was indeed running down his face from somewhere in his hair.

"I'm fine..:" He repeated.

"Harry!"

He turned to see Hermione hurrying across the field closely followed by his father and Padfoot. Hermione hugged him first and his father followed her example.

"That was some flying!" James exclaimed and patted Harry's back proudly.

"Thanks..:" Harry grinned. "I didn't know you'd be coming…"

"To watch my son play Quidditch? I wouldn't miss than for the world!" James smiled – then looked a bit worried. "But that was a nasty blow to your head… you should get it looked at."

"I'm fine…" Harry repeated for the third time.

"Ok, let me rephrase that… when I said you should get it looked at, I meant you're getting it looked at. I'm your father after all… " James said and looked at him pointedly – then added in a stage whisper: "And your mum will have my hide if I don't make you see Madam Pomfrey."

Harry got a strange – and somewhat disturbing - mental image of his mum holding a stag hide.

"Yeah… that wouldn't be good… Prongs would be cold…" he grinned at his father.

"Mr. Malfoy, Mr. Crabbe and Mr. Goyle – come with me, please." McGonagall demanded as she appeared from the crowd. She looked very angry as she dragged the three Slytherins off.

"Party in the Common Room!" someone yelled.

"Hospital Wing first, Harry." James said when Harry tried to follow the others.

"Dad, it's just a bump." Harry argued.

"It's bleeding, Harry…" James argued back. "I know you probably hate the Hospital Wing as much as I do. I'm not asking you to stay there for a week. Just to get patched up. If you prefer, we can go have your Mum patch you up instead, but I insure you, she'll fuss a lot more than Madam Pomfrey. Lily will probably send you straight to bed."

Harry laughed. "Oh alright, I'll see Madam Pomfrey then…"

15 minutes later, Harry's head had been healed and he was sitting in the Hospital Wing, staring at a goblet of greenish-yellow potion.

"So, how is it going?" James, who sat beside him asked.

"I have a headache." Harry replied, frowning at the disgusting potion that could remedy that.

"I know… I meant with a certain young lady…"

Harry stared at his shoes, contemplating what to say. Padfoot nudged his knee pointedly.

It was quiet for a while then Harry finally spoke.

"I thought fancying someone was supposed to be nice." He said quietly.

"It is…" James replied and put an arm comfortingly around Harry's shoulders. "When it is returned, it is the best feeling there is. When it is not, it isn't nice. But Harry… the worst of all is not knowing…"

Padfoot whimpered and put his head on Harry's knee. Harry contemplatively scratched the dog behind the ear. "I just… what if she says no?" I can't imagine anything worse…"

"Well then you know where you stand and you can either begin to heal your heart and move on or be stubborn like me and keep trying. But honestly Harry, I don't think she'll say no…"

"Says the guy who got how many no's?" Harry countered. "Besides, I'm fairly sure she's over me."

He noticed that Padfoot rolled his eyes.

"Well, there's only one way to find out. And I have the perfect opportunity for you." James smiled. "It is Potter tradition to have a large ball on New Years Eve. Being third generation and almost of age, you're expected to bring a date. Your friends are all invited of course, but it would be nice if you could take Miss Weasley as your date."

Harry gulped. "A ball?"

Memories of the Yule Ball flooded his mind. That had not really been fun.

"A formal ball, yes." James confirmed. "It's usually a lot of fun. My father normally makes sure there's a band to play more modern music later in the evening."

"Right…" Harry suddenly felt so queasy that one would think he had already emptied the goblet still in front of him.

**

* * *

James cleared his throat and looked at his two friends.**

"Fellow Marauders!" he started. "Today we see the product of our combined efforts. We have all poured our blood, sweat and magic into this project and reached the first step in deMaraudering the traitor. A long road is ahead of us but the first paving slabs have been laid and with time we will reach our goal. And so… I proudly present… THE MARAUDERS' MAP OF LONDON!"

He moved aside and on the table behind him was a blank piece of parchment.

Neither Sirius nor Remus was surprised at the revelation for they had of course already seen the parchment many times before. Still, this was tradition and the three friends gathered solemnly around the table.

"I trust you all know the password?" James asked and looked first at Sirius, who saluted, and then at Remus, who nodded.

"On three then." James continued and they all drew their wands." One…"

Remus looked at James. "Two…"

Sirius started intently on the map as if willing it to write 'Peter Pettigrew' in large sparkly letters and an orange arrow pointing to it. "Three."

"Marauders united to hunt the rat!"

They all touched their wands to the parchment at the same time and lines started appearing all over it and soon a map of London could be seen complete with Diagon Alley and the Ministry… and a swarm of little black dots so close that it was impossible to read the names next to them.

"Well… so far so good…" said Sirius as they stared at the many people on the map.

"Now we just need to figure out how to limit who appears on the map." James said cheerfully.

* * *

"ACCIO WAND!" Harry yelled and to his delight his wand flew towards him in a perfect arc and landed in his outstretched hand.

Smiling, he returned the wand to the table and stepped away.

"Lumos."

The wand tip lit up on the table.

"Nox." Harry grinned.

Now that he had gotten the feel of it, he wondered what he could do wandlessly. Retrieving his wand and sticking it in his belt, he focused his attention on a blanket on the couch.

"Wingardium Leviosa."

And sure enough, the blanket levitated nicely in the air.

Harry pulled out the Marauders' Map. Holding his hand over it, he spoke the password and laughed happily when the familiar lines appeared on the parchment.

Then he noticed that most of the school was in the Great Hall and he realized that it was dinnertime.

Checking that no-one was outside, Harry left the Room of Requirement feeling very pleased with himself. _Perhaps I should ask Ginny to that ball today… _

Harry entered the Great Hall and joined Ron, Hermione and Ginny at the Gryffindor table, taking the available spot next to Ginny. Come to think of it… whenever he was late, the only available spot was always next to Ginny.

_Maybe Ginny saves the spot for me? Or maybe it's just because Ron obviously fancies Hermione and picks the spot next to her whenever he had the chance? Maybe I shouldn't ask her… but then I'll never know…_

Harry was not very good company. He spent the entire dinner gathering courage and planning in his mind what to say. When they finished pudding, he had finally made up his mind. _Might as well get it over with…_

"Ginny… er…" he blurted out before he thought better of it and ran a hand through his hair nervously as Ginny looked at him.

_Idiot! You can't ask her here – in front of Ron – you'll never live to know her answer_

"…er, can I talk to you outside for a minute?"

Ginny looked at him with a puzzled expression. Harry swallowed a lump in his throat. Then she smiled. "All right."

Smiling back, they both made to get up, but Harry only managed to pull one of his legs over the bench before the doors to the Great Hall opened and a man in a muddy cloak appeared in the door. He had black hair and his face and hands were covered in what looked like a mix of dried blood and dirt. He staggered towards the teachers' table but only made it halfway there before he collapsed on the floor.


	14. Answers

**A/N: Well, not much to say really... except... ENJOY!**

Chapter 14 : Answers

The Great Hall was completely quiet and the curious students craned their necks to see the unconscious man. Harry had just gotten up from his seat when the man entered the Great Hall and so Harry had a better view than most.

However, he did not recognize the man. – though there was something familiar about him. Harry tried hard to remember where he had seen him before but he had no luck.

Dumbledore quickly conjured a stretcher and levitated the man out of the Great Hall – presumably to the Hospital Wing.

As soon as the doors closed behind the Headmaster, the Great Hall erupted into eager chatter.

"Who was that?" Harry said as he sat down with one leg on either side of the bench.

"Couldn't see his face…" Ron said and reached for an extra piece of treacle tart.

"I could… I didn't recognize him though… I think I've seen him before but I can't remember where…." Harry frowned.

* * *

Harry could not sleep. He had finally worked up the courage to talk to Ginny and something had to get in the way. Now that he had been so close, he had a hard time waiting for another chance. AND since he wanted it to be a surprise, he had not told anyone else about the ball either. And he really could not wait much longer. And who was that man? Harry mentally cursed him for choosing that specific time to stumble into the Great Hall.

The thoughts kept spinning in his head and he checked the clock on his bedside table.

"Too early." It said.

Harry sighed and finally gave up all hope of sleep. Sliding quietly out of bed, he threw on the nearest set of robes and grabbed his invisibility cloak. Perhaps going for a walk would help cure his insomnia.

Disguised by the cloak he crawled out of the portrait hole and made his way towards the castle doors. Suddenly, he thought he heard something and he froze. Harry mentally kicked himself for not bringing the map – and then he tiptoed closed to the sounds. He saw something move in the shadows and squinted to see what it was.

Then he could vaguely make out a figure that seemed to move from statue to statue, from niche to niche. Harry's heart pounded as he flattened himself against the opposite wall and the figure came closer. Then, the figure was close enough for Harry to identify who it was – and the realization did nothing to calm his racing heart.

Currently hiding in the shadows behind a suit of armour was Ginny. Harry guessed that she had been to the kitchens as she cradled a large handful of chocolate frogs to her chest. Harry observed her for a moment. _I wouldn't mind switching spots with those chocolate frogs… _

He shook his head as if he hoped the thought would somehow fly out of his ears. She looked rather adorable in her teddy bear patterned nightgown as she looked stealthily around.

She made towards the next hiding place – a doorway – and lost in his admiration Harry panicked a bit when the object of his attention threatened to disappear.

"Psst! Ginny!" he whispered before he knew it.

Ginny froze mid-step and turned around and stared at the seemingly empty corridor.

Remembering that he was wearing the cloak, Harry quickly pulled it off.

"Harry!" Ginny gasped and flung a hand to her chest as he materialized a yard ahead of her.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to scare you." Harry apologized.

"It's alright… what are you doing up?" she whispered back.

"Couldn't sleep."

"Yeah? Me neither," she shrugged. "so I went for a snack. Want one?"

Harry suddenly had an idea. "Actually, I was going to go for a walk. Want to come?"

"Sure…" she smiled. "how about we go to the lake and then we can eat these there? I have some cauldron cakes too..."

"Sounds great!" Harry grinned at her.

Ginny lifted an eyebrow. "So, is there room for me under there?"

_Bloody hell! _"Oh, er… yeah, of course..:"

As they walked through the castle Harry was happy that Ginny was leading the way as he was beginning to feel slightly dazed again.

He was caught off guard when Ginny suddenly stopped and he walked straight into her.

"Oof!"

"Oh… sorry Ginny…" he blinked as Ginny pulled the cloak off them and Harry realized that they had reached their destination.

They sat down quietly and Harry cast a warming charm on them against the cold December air. Ginny conjured a handkerchief and put the sweets on it.

"So…" Ginny said as she unwrapped a chocolate frog. "Why couldn't you sleep?"

She caught the frog as it jumped, stuffed it in her mouth and looked at Harry.

"I just… sometimes there are so many things on my mind that it feels like there isn't room for them all…" Harry explained.

"I can imagine…" Ginny smiled. "Everything is so different now that Voldemort is gone. And my life hasn't even changed that much. It must be very overwhelming for you."

Harry nodded and smiled as he had a cauldron cake. "Yeah, but in a good way – so I don't mind. At least now I don't have Voldemort to worry about. Now I can have good worries. Normal worries, if you will."

"I had a nightmare…" Ginny said and when Harry looked at her, she was staring out over the lake. "I sometimes still get them…. About Tom..."

She looked a bit lost as she stared into the darkness and he wanted to hold her so badly.

_Why don't you then? It might give you a pointer to what she'll say when you ask her out._

Harry comfortingly put an arm around Ginny's shoulder and rubbed her arm. "Ginny, it's over… Voldemort is gone…"

"I know," Ginny replied. "I guess I'll have nightmares for a long time…"

Despite the rather dark subject, Harry could not help but feel a bit giddy that she had not pushed him away.

"Yeah, me too…" he agreed. "I can feel that he's gone though… that the connection isn't there anymore."

"What does it feel like?" Ginny asked.

Harry smiled. "It feels great. Like the weight of the world has been lifted from my shoulders. I can finally have a somewhat normal life."

Ginny turned her head and looked at him. "And you deserve it. You're a great bloke, Harry."

Harry could not help but grin at that. And she looked so beautiful with a uncombed hair and a chocolate smear at the corner of her mouth. _Kiss her… go on…_

"What did you want to talk to me about earlier+" Ginny broke off his thoughts. The question was welcome though.

Harry felt that he started to sweat and lifted his hand halfway to his hair before he caught himself and let the hand drop. He took a deep breath and concentrated on speaking at an understandable speed.

"Well, er… you see, apparently there's this tradition for the Potters to host a big New Years Party. And… you're all invited of course, but… well, I was wondering if you'd like to go with me?"

He couldn't look at Ginny as he awaited her answer so he stared into the darkness instead.

"You mean, like a date?" she asked quietly.

Harry gulped. _Oh no! she doesn't want to! You should have known! IDIOT!_

"Er… well, it doesn't have to be… if…"

He was cut short when Ginny took his hand which still rested on her arm.

"I'd like to… it's fine." She smiled at him and leaned a bit against him.

Harry blinked and stared at her in amazement. Then the answer sunk in and he grinned widely.

He was caught totally off guard when Ginny leaned in and kissed him on the cheek.

"We should be getting back…" she said as he recovered from the pleasant surprise.

As they walked back to Gryffindor Tower under the cloak, they suddenly heard a voice.

"…talk to you…" a familiar voice was heard and footsteps drew closer.

Harry and Ginny squeezed into a niche in the wall as the person came closer. Not that Harry minded…

Then Harry saw his father walking down the hall followed by a black dog, which growled a bit.

"Dumbledore says it's safe." Replied James to the growl as he passed the niche where Harry and Ginny hid.

Harry looked at Ginny and raised an eyebrow. Ginny smirked and jerked her head in the direction James had just gone.

Then, as if they were one, they moved out of the niche and followed the two Marauders.

After a while they ended up outside the Hospital Wing where they just about managed to slip through the door before James closed it. Inside, Sirius had transformed and stood in front of another man, who Harry recognized as the man who had stumbled into the Great Hall at dinner.

Harry and Ginny leaned against the wall between two hospital beds.

"You died." Sirius growled rather coldly.

"I… I don't know what happened… I woke up… please… you must believe me… The Dark Lord…"

"VOLDEMORT IS GONE, YOU IDIOT!" Sirius bellowed.

"I KNOW!" the man suddenly roared back. "DO YOU THINK IM SORRY??? HE BLOODY WELL KILLED ME FOR A REASON!"

"Yeah, you probably didn't kiss his shoes correctly." Sirius growled

Ginny moved and Harry felt her breath tickle his neck.

The other man turned his back to Sirius and walked to over to a window which he stared out of. "I'm trying to help." He said quietly. "I know I don't have the best record, but I'm really trying to help. You _know_ me… I'm not like that… I woke up in the old Death Eater's quarters. There were three men there. They didn't see me – but – I overheard… they're planning to kill the boy…"

"WHAT?" Sirius exclaimed and Harry felt Ginny stiffed beside him.

"What are you talking about?" Harry heard the worried tone in his father's voice.

"They seemed very bent on revenge… something about setting an example…"

"Who were they?" Sirius glared.

"I… I couldn't hear…" the man cowered under Sirius' glare.

"And what about the plan?" James asked quietly.

The man looked at the floor. "They didn't say…"

Sirius grumbled. "Apparently, you're as lousy a spy as you were a death eater!"

The man looked hurt. "I'm sorry, Sirius – and Potter."

Harry frowned. Why did the man call Sirius by first name and his father by last name? James and Sirius had the same friends. Ginny's eyes widened as she looked up at him. Harry sent her a questioning look. She mouthed back a name and Harry gaped at the man as everything clicked. That would explain why he thought he looked familiar.

Seconds later, Ginny's guess was confirmed.

"Do you trust me Sirius?" the man asked.

"Not for a second." Sirius shook his head.

"Dumbledore trusts me. I told him everything. Sirius, do you know why he killed me?"

Sirius sighed. "No, Regulus, I don't know why he killed you. I assumed you had been a bad servant."

Regulus narrowed his eyes. "Perhaps you remember what happened the day I was killed? Or weren't you informed until later? There was an attack on that little town outside Ipswich. You should remember – you were both there… Just graduated from Auror training, I believe."

Both James and Sirius nodded.

"Well, I was there too." Regulus continued. "Just out of Hogwarts – it was my first attack and for that reason I was being watched by a senior death eater. We attacked a Wizarding family – blood traitors, I think – we had our orders. We tortured them. Then a band of Aurors arrived outside and my partner went to fight them while I was left to finish the job.

I was torturing the father when suddenly the door blasted open and there you were Sirius. I'm sure you remember it?"

Sirius nodded and frowned. "So that was you?"

"Yes… and since you were there, I'm sure you know why the Dark Lord killed me." Regulus said quietly.

"I don't get it though…" Sirius said. "Why the sudden change of heart? Why switch sides openly in the middle of a fight? Not that I'm not grateful – you saved my life – but… why?"

Regulus shook his head and sighed. "I couldn't do it… I couldn't kill my own brother. And then I realized that that was indeed expected of me. And I could not do that. I couldn't do any of it – I never really wanted to. But everyone I knew did – and I didn't see any other way. Until that moment. I realized who I was and what I believed in – and so I switched sides to save my brother. For even if it would bring me my death – as I knew it would – you deserved to live more than I did.

"Riiight… but if you had that in you, then why were you sorted into Slytherin? Why not any of the other houses? I'll tell you why. Because you're like the rest of the family!" Sirius spat.

"Because I begged it!" Regulus roared back. "I saw what happened to you when you were sorted into Gryffindor! I didn't want that! The hat debated Gryffindor and I begged and pleaded for Slytherin! Not all Slytherins are evil, you know? And not all Gryffindors are brave and loyal as I heard you've realized!"

Harry's throat suddenly felt dry as he remembered his own sorting. _Don't even think that! You're Gryffindor's heir for Merlin's sake! You don't belong in any other house! _

Sirius opened his mouth to retort, but they would never find out what he was going to say, for suddenly Ginny's messy hair made contact with Harry's nose and he could not hold back a sneeze.

The three men turned quickly and stared in Harry and Ginny's direction.

Harry saw his father and Sirius exchange a look.

"Harry?" James asked.

Harry looked at Ginny who nodded. He sighed and pulled the cloak off them.

James wore a strange expression that Harry guessed was because he was torn between whether he should look angry or proud.

"Well well well…" James raised an eyebrow as Ginny appeared next to Harry. "Sneaking around in places you shouldn't be… out of the tower during curfew… and with a girl no less?"

Harry just shrugged and sent his father a large grin. "What can I say? I can't help my genes."

At that Sirius snorted and James couldn't help grinning back. Then his face fell.

"You heard everything then?"

"Yeah, I heard. Don't worry though… Three guys wanting revenge… that's not too bad – that's quite a step up from my other years, actually." Harry assured them.

"Harry, just be careful. Don't take any chances." James looked serious.

"Don't worry Dad, I'll be fine." Harry promised.

"Right, I'll walk you back to the tower then." James said.

"Er, James… think I can have a word with Harry?" Sirius prompted.

"Of course – I'll wait outside." James said and waved Ginny out of the door with him.

Sirius led Harry to the other end of the Hospital Wing, away from Regulus.

Harry looked at Sirius expectantly.

"Nothing specific! I just wanted to know how you're doing. We haven't really had a change to talk. Even though James and Lily are back, I'm still your godfather, you know…"

"I'm fine…" Harry shrugged. "There's nothing new really… everything is just… nice."

"Nothing new, eh? What's with sneaking around the castle with a girl under the cloak then? That doesn't fit the category of 'nothing new'." Sirius bumped his shoulder against Harry's teasingly.

Harry grinned and decided to tease back. "It does fall into the category of 'things you don't tell your parents and godfather about', though. – And from what I've heard, you know exactly what that's about…"

Sirius frowned. "You're WAY too young to even know the meaning of that statement."

"I'm 16!" Harry objected. "Did you forget what you were like at 16?"

Sirius mock frowned and wagged a finger at Harry. "Young man, there is a very big difference between you at 16 and me at 16!"

"Which is?" Harry lifted an eyebrow.

"Well… you're my godson and I'm… well… not!"

Harry laughed. "Riight… So what about you? How are you doing?"

Sirius grinned. "It's bloody great having James and Lily back. It's so much better than staying at Grimmauld Place. I turned your father green the other day – head to toe. He's plotting revenge though…"

Harry smiled. "I asked Ginny to the New Years Ball – she said yes. "

Sirius grinned. "That's great! Those balls are amazing! I wish I could go…"

"I'm sorry, Padfoot…" Harry said.

"Nah, don't worry about it. Next year we'll catch the rat and I'll be free" Sirius assured him.

"I hope so…"

"Well, you should go… your father is waiting…"

"Right… I'll see you at Christmas then." Harry quickly hugged Sirius goodbye and walked through the door.


	15. Home

**A/N Phew - **_school_** assignment finally done! YAY! And now a few words for my lovely reviewers:**

Seadrance: _I'm glad you liked it! And here's another update. I'm sorry it wasn't exactly as soon as I'm sure you would have liked - but it's here now :)_

Flower123:_ I think I need to remind you that this is an AU fic - which means that HBP is not a part of my story. So Harry and Ginny will not got "back together" since __they were never together in the first place. I think I've said enough on the matter now without spoiling any later chapters for you. :)_

Aerohead1980: _I really had fun writing the conversation between Harry and Sirius too. I'm glad that showed. _

IHeartSnitchBoxers: _Well, there you go - someone updated again. :D I hope you like the chapter._

Karma-k2:_ Now you get to see what happens next - sorry to say I may have left a tiny, ickle cliffhanger there - but I'll try and hurry with the next chapter. Can't hurry too much though - or it will show - and that won't do!_

xSNUFFLESxoxo:_ Here's another update!_

PurpleRainbow:_ Well if you've just thought about my story again today, then perhaps you should study Divination? Hope you squealed with happiness again this time :D_

Purple smurfs r real: _K.I.S.S... nah... not really - though Harry tells me he wouldn't mind and then pokes me with his wand and adds "Hurry up and write that..:"_

Desartratt:_ Well, welcome to my story then :) It's always nice to get new readers._

Jabarber69: _Aw, thank you - that's so sweet - though to tell you the truth I have read some stories out there that mine could never match but I am honoured that you think so._

TickledOrange: _Wow... a patient reviewer - that's rare :) - Well, hopefully you didn't find the wait too long. _

Lena Andromeda Black:_ I'll have to remind you that my story is AU from before HPB. Which means no horcruxes and no RAB. It would be difficult to work in the horcruxes since Voldemort died in the first chapter._

CMTaylor531:_ Ahh yes - the Black Brothers - the Light and the Dark - or are they really?_

Paradise:_ Well, Ron's still being a bit daft - though that is a bit cute :) He'll see sense with time. I mostly write in either Harry's or James's POV though - so any R/Hr will be their observations. I promised some R/Hr though - and some will come with time._

Harley97: _Thanks - well there's another (sort of) new thing in this chapter._

VarietyGirl9143_: Oh I don't mind exclamation points at all!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! - Here's some more for you to read._

FrostyAKF_: Hmm - I'll think about that - you're right - it does have potential. And it might fit my plot. I'm not sure though - my plot tends to have a life of it's own._

I'm a misfit, xSNUFFLESxoxo, SchitzoPirate, amrawo, Boboky, Secret World, Ms-Trixie :_ Thanks a lot! I hope you all enjoy this chapter too._

**Chapter 15: Home**

The days passed quickly and uneventfully and Harry quite enjoyed himself. Ginny sent him sweet little smiles at every possible moment and he had not heard anything else about the three Death Eaters who were out to get him and he did not give it much thought either. Regulus had disappeared from the Hospital Wing but they only had to consult the Marauder's Map to learn that he was apparently staying in a room in the dungeons.

Soon they were boarding the train to go home for Christmas. Harry sighed comfortably as he leaned back in his seat and looked at the snow-covered landscape as it swished by. He felt strangely warm at the thought that once the train arrived at Kings Cross, there would be someone there waiting to pick him up and he'd be going _home_ to spend Christmas with his _family._

"Hermione, what are you doing for Christmas?" Ginny asked as she plopped down on the seat next to Harry.

"Oh we're spending Christmas at my grandma's" Hermione replied.

"Oh…" Ginny said. "Well, I was wondering if you'd like to go to Diagon Alley together – I need to get dress robes for the New Year's Party."

"Oh of course" Hermione smiled. "So do I – and I could really need some advice…"

"Oh well… maybe we can find something here..:" Ginny produced a magazine from her bag and moved to sit next to Hermione as they began flipping though the magazine. "So who are you going with?"

"No-one, really…" Hermione replied quietly.

"Oh…" Ginny looked a bit surprised. "Well, then we'll just _have_ to make sure you look absolutely stunning. Then the PRAT who hasn't asked you out will see some sense."

Harry knew perfectly well who Ginny was referring to and he lifted his eyebrows at Ron who shrugged helplessly.

Harry then tuned the girls out and started a game of wizard's chess with Ron.

When the food trolley passed their compartment, Harry bought everything left on it as had become an unwritten tradition.

Harry attacked a pumpkin pasty while Ron reached for a chocolate frog. Harry stopped chewing when he noticed a strange expression on Ron's face.

Harry swallowed his half-chewed mouthful and asked. "What? Did you finally get Agrippa?"

"No…" Ron blinked. "I got… _me_…"

Harry grinned and reached for the card which Ron handed him. Sure enough, there was a picture of Ron grinning up at him.

Moments later they were all attacking the pile of chocolate frogs and cards were thrown across the room. Ron did not even notice that he indeed got the Agrippa card and flung it against the window as they searched for their own cards. Harry picked up the card and glanced at Agrippa who seemed to be yelling at him. He pocketed the card so he could give it to Ron later.

A while later the cards were gathered in a nice little pile on one of the extra seats and the boys returned to their chessboard. Hermione produced a book from her bag and Ginny pulled out a different magazine. She returned to her seat next to Harry, pulled her feet up under her and leaned against Harry's shoulder. Caught off guard, Harry tried to play it cool but failed miserably when he distractedly moved his knight forward in such a disastrous way that his queen waved a fist at him and yelled "MURDERER!!!"

Ron gaped at him and then at Ginny. "Wha…?"

But then Ginny must have sent him quite a glare for he did not continue. Instead he looked Harry square in the eye. Harry nodded slightly and Ron moved one of his pawns and watched as it pulled Harry's knight off his horse and brutally slaughtered him.

* * *

4.52 the clock on the platform said. James bounced on his feet against the cold.

"Mr. Potter?"

He turned around to see who had addressed him and found a red-haired wizard.

"Arthur Weasley. Our sons are friends, I believe?" the wizard said.

James smiled. "Weasley, yes – and you were a few years above me at Hogwarts. Say, did you ever get that bottle of ink to behave?"

"No, in fact I still have it locked in a box at home." Arthur smiled and then he grew more serious. "We never knew each other well but I am truly glad you have returned. I have come to know your son quite well and he is a remarkable boy."

"Well, from what I have heard, Harry would not have made it far without your son's help." James replied, then added. "I trust you have received our invitation for New Years?"

"Oh yes! Thank you for that – we would be happy to come." Arthur replied as the train pulled into the station.

"I'd be glad if you came. We really should get to know each other a bit since our sons are so close." James commented and mentally thought that considering how his son obviously felt about the other wizard's daughter perhaps there was even more reason to get to know him.

They had no trouble spotting their offspring in the crowd for the older students were of course taller than the younger ones and flaming red and jet black hair were easy to spot.

Apparently, that worked both ways because the teenagers caught sight of them immediately and headed over.

"Hi Dad." Harry smiled as he dragged his trunk over.

"Hey Harry." James greeted. "Ready to go?"

Harry nodded and said goodbye to his friends, receiving a hug from each of the girls – Ginny's slightly longer than Hermione's.

James side-alone apparated Harry to the gate in the wall that surrounded Potter Manor. The wrought iron gate creaked in protest as they walked through it.

"Wow…" Harry whispered behind him and James grinned.

The trees lining the path to the front door were filled with little fairies, each carrying a tiny lantern. Some of the little beings were dancing on the branches, some were dangling their feet from the ends of the branches and some were flying from tree to tree. James had to admit it was beautiful – especially now that it had gotten dark. He had seen it every Christmas while he grew up though – so the wow-factor had diminished somewhat. Now it mostly made him feel a bit nostalgic.

Once they reached the front door, James rang the door bell and his father opened the door moments later.

"James! Harry! Excellent! Perfect timing." Edward Potter smiled.

"Wow…" Harry repeated as they went inside. The hall was decorated traditionally yet elegantly. A Christmas tree stood on either side of the room next to the staircases and the fireplace in the center was crackling happily.

James smiled at his son.

"You should really work on your vocabulary." He teased. "or I'll have to get you a thesaurus for Christmas."

Harry smiled a bit sheepishly. "Sorry Dad… it's just… amazing."

Just then Lily and James' mother came out into the hall and hugged Harry welcome.

"What? Don't I get a welcome-back-hug?" James complained as Lily let go of Harry.

"Oh alright!" Lily laughed and hugged her husband. "Sirius and Remus just finished setting up the tree."

"Oh well, shall we go decorate then?" James smiled and let go of his wife.

* * *

Harry was a bit confused. The trees were already decorated – they were right in front of him.

So he followed his family to the living room and almost fell over in wonder. This time his vocabulary had changed slightly as he let out a "Whoa…"

The tree was huge! Harry looked up to see that the top almost did reach the ceiling which was much higher than he remembered and so he assumed that the room had been magically enlarged.

When Harry looked back down, Sirius appeared from behind the tree.

"Hey Harry!" he grinned in an energetic way that Harry, knowing Sirius, found slightly troubling.

In the blink of an eye, the man had transformed to a huge black dog and leapt at Harry, knocked him to the floor and started licking his face.

Harry grimaced and shoved the dog off him. "Ugh Padfoot – that's disgusting!"

"I must say, Sirius, that you really need to get yourself a lady friend."

Harry was still wiping his face but turned to see a smirking Remus standing in the doorway, levitating a large stack of boxes.

"Yeah, well, the birds don't really flock around serial killers." Sirius replied as he turned human again.

"Don't be sure, Padfoot." Harry heard his dad comment. "Many birds like a bad boy."

"I'm not even going to comment on that:" Lily pulled a face.

Then Harry's grandfather cleared his throat and they all went quiet.

"Well… I must say the family had grown. The last time we were here, gathered around the tree, we were only four. Today we are seven. And yes, Remus, I count you as family too though your surname is different – for family can be much more than shared blood." He said as he picked up an old looking wooden box.

Harry saw Cornelius, the house ghost, float quietly through the door and watch as Edward continued.

"I also think that this Christmas we should all be extra grateful for the world we live in – for this is the first Christmas in many years that we can celebrate in peace. And with that, I hereby declare that Christmas has come to Potter Manor."

Harry watched as his grandfather produced a figure of a lion wearing a red cloth and wizard's hat and levitated it to the top of the tree where it let off a roar as it settled in place.

The sound had barely left the air before James put a hand on Harry's shoulder. "Now, we all decorate the tree together." He said and copied Sirius who was already attacking a box of decorations. Harry smiled to himself and followed his father's example.

Decorating a wizarding Christmas tree was mighty fun. Not that he had ever had the chance to decorate a Muggle one – but Harry still had a feeling that this was a bit more fun. Apart from the traditional decorations there were sugar quills and little golden birds of glass which bobbed up and down on their branches and twittered. And like the trees outside, the lights were each being held by a little fairy.

James and Sirius were having a great deal of fun levitating decorations to the higher areas on the tree. Harry noticed that his mother was watching and went to her. She winced as Sirius dropped a glass bird and it fell towards the ground, flapping it's glass wings wildly in vain and shattering on the floor moments later.

"Don't worry Mum, we can just 'reparo' it, remember?" Harry smiled as he put an arm around his mother's waist and rested his head on her shoulder.

Lily smiled sheepishly and ran her hands through his hair.

"I guess I still forget sometimes."

"That's alright, Hermione does too, you know…" he mumbled lazily.

"I look forward to getting to know her – it sounds like we have a lot in common." Lily smiled and kissed him on the forehead. "I wouldn't mind her for a daughter-in-law, you know…"

Harry grimaced. "Ew… no… no chance of that – we're not like that – she's like a sister to me."

"Ah well, "Lily chuckled softly. "You'll probably find yourself some redhead and pine over her – just like your father."

Harry did not really know what to say to that and so they just watched in silence as James repaired the glass bird and levitated it in place where it gave an offended tweet and glared at Sirius.

* * *

"So, how is school going, Harry?" his grandmother asked after she had discussed Christmas and New Year's preparations with her husband for most of the dinner.

"Er… fine, really – it's been uneventful which it kinda nice." Harry replied after quickly swallowing a half-chewed piece of meat that felt slightly too big to swallow.

"Uneventful times are easily _made_ eventful, Harry…" Sirius said.

"Keep your little tricks to yourself, Black." Lily warned quickly.

But Sirius was not intimidated and looked deep in thought for the rest of the dinner – sometimes grinning widely.

After dinner Harry helped his mother and grandmother clear the table. He noticed that his father, Sirius and Remus disappeared quickly.

Five minutes later, James returned.

"Harry, may I have a word? There is something I would like to show you."

Harry nodded and followed his father to the living room where he stopped in front of the bookcase to the left of the fireplace. James quickly checked that they were alone and pulled out his wand and tapped a knot in the wood. The bookcase split in two and revealed a staircase behind it. The wall was lined with lit torches.

They descended the stairs and entered a room which was actually quite cosy, despite the fact that it was clearly a basement room. In fact, it was slightly reminiscent of the Gryffindor Tower. On a soft looking couch, Remus and Sirius waited.

"Have a seat, Harry." James offered and Harry sat on the other couch opposite Sirius and Remus.

"Now that we are all present, this meeting is declared open." James said, still standing. "A decision has been made outside the meetings and it must therefore be repeated to be valid. The proposal is as follows: That Harry James Potter be accepted as our apprentice. All in favour raise a hand."

James, Sirius and Remus all raised their hands and Harry gaped at them.

"The vote is unanimous," James announced. "Motion carried."

James sat down next to Harry.

"Now, we have some rules and traditions. You'll get the hang of most of it with time. But these you must know:

The first law of the Marauders is that what is said during a meeting is not mentioned to any outsiders. No matter how close friends they are.

The second law is that you always stand by your fellow Marauders' side.

And the third law is that you never tell on fellow Marauders.

Now, will you accept these laws?"

Harry felt oddly honoured though he did not know exactly what they were planning. He did, however, feel these laws were fairly basic rules for friendship that he had no trouble accepting. The hardest would be the first law – as that meant he would not be able to tell Ron and Hermione – or Ginny.

"I accept" he nodded.

"Good." James said and seemed to deflate as he dropped the formal tone and plopped down on the couch next to Harry. "Now… there are several stages to playing a prank…"

An hour later Harry's head swam with information.

"Of course the map will make it a lot easier to avoid getting caught." Remus said.

And that reminded Harry.

"The Map!" he exclaimed. "I forgot to have you update it last time I was home!"

"Oh, yes… we should." Sirius said, looking eager. "Do you have it on you?"

Harry had not changed his clothes since he arrived earlier that day and so the Map happened to be in his sock. He quickly retrieved it and handed it to Sirius who spread it out on the table.

"Right…" James said and looked at his two friends. "On three then?"

They all drew their wands. "One…"

"Two…" Sirius counted.

"Three!" Remus finished and in one motion they each pressed their wands to a corner of the map and spoke on turn.

"Messr Prongs humbly requests permission to alter the Map."

"Messr Padfoot seriously begs permission to revise the Map."

"Messr Moony violently demands access to change the Map."

Then a circle appeared on the map around the tip of James' wand. Then one around Sirius' and Remus' as well. And finally a circle appeared in the empty corner and above it a word appeared in the familiar script: "Wormtail?"

"Wormtail is no longer a Marauder." They chorused and then lines spread across the map.

Harry quickly made a sketch of the Room of Requirement and Remus took it and began to draw.

15 minutes later he put the quill down and mumbled some spell and the new drawing merged with the original map. The three Marauders sealed the map again.

"Well, let's make sure that it worked then." Sirius picked up the map and tapped it with his wand.

"I solemnly swear that I'm up to no good." He grinned and then he looked at his map and his face fell. Then, he grinned again – this time much wider and in a slightly sinister way.

"Well, I'll be cursed…"


	16. Mead the Marauders

**A/N: Finally! Here it is! Again, I apologise for the long wait. I've been so busy! Hopefully you'll all be able to forgive me when I tell you that this chapter is the second longest I've ever posted. Oh yes, and so sorry for the cliffy! This chapter doesn't have one - I'm not that evil!  
And last but not least: A MERRY CHRISTMAS TO ALL OF YOU! **

Chapter 16: Mead the Marauders

"What is it?" James snatched the map from Sirius and stared at it.

There, in the newly added Room of Requirement was the long awaited dot. James felt his heart beat faster. _Peter Pettigrew _the map said.

He looked up and met Sirius' eyes for a moment as he made sure they were thinking the same thing. They were.

"Meeting closed." James announced and threw the map on the table. "Get ready. We meet in the hall as soon as possible."

As he strode out of the room he heard Remus gasp – probably because he had looked at the map too.

"James?"

He was pulled out of his thoughts by someone grabbing his hand. He turned and met the worried eyes of his wife. He had walked right past her on his way to their room.

"What's wrong?"

"Wormtail is at Hogwarts." He explained.

Lily nodded. "When are we leaving?"

"Oh no… you can't go…" He started but paused when he could see the anger rise on his wife's face.

"I'm going."

James sighed. An angry wife was not what he needed right now. And he would prefer to leave on good terms – should anything happen. James continued up the stairs and Lily followed.

"Look, Lily – I really need you to stay here." He tried as he changed his clothes and strapped on his wand-holder.

"But I have as much to settle with him as you do." She countered.

"Lily, this isn't about him betraying us – or him hurting Harry. Well, of course I'd like to have a piece of him for that – but we cannot change what has already happened. This is about catching the bastard so Sirius can be free. And it's a Marauder thing. Lily… I can't focus properly if I'm worried about my family." James explained and pulled her into a gentle kiss. "I need you to stay here."

He looked her pointedly in the eye and after a while, her eyes softened and she sighed and nodded.

They started walking downstairs and when they descended the stairs, James' stomach dropped once again. Harry was standing in the middle of the hall – already in his cloak – looking very impatient.

"Oh no… no no no no no– you're staying here." James exclaimed and saw outrage appear on the face of his son.

"What?" He frowned.

"I know you want to go Harry, but not this time." James said sternly.

"I'm going." Harry crossed his arms and glared at him.

"YOU ARE NOT!" Lily shrieked and James had to admit he was impressed that Harry did not cower at all. Instead, his son took a step towards Lily and yelled back.

"YOU CAN'T TELL ME WHAT TO DO! THAT RAT RUINED MY LIFE! I HAVE AS MUCH RIGHT TO GO AS ANYONE ELSE!!!!"

"In fact, Harry, we can tell you what to do." James countered calmly. "We are your parents and you're not of age yet."

Harry gaped at him. "I CAN'T BELIEVE YOU! I FOUGHT VOLDEMORT AND WON! HOW CAN YOU NOT LET ME COME?"

"Because you're my son." James answered quietly. "Harry, I know you want to go with us – and I know you're more than capable. But I will not take the risk."

"Well," Harry glared at him defiantly. "Okay, you can tell me what to do. But I'm not a house elf. I don't have to obey."

James sighed. So much for leaving the home on good terms.

"I'm sorry about this Harry." James apologised and snapped his fingers. Harry instantly disappeared.

Lily gasped. "What did you do?"

"Locked him in his room." James smiled apologetically at his wife.

Lily nodded and gave him a tight hug. "Be careful James."

He returned the hug and buried his nose in her hair - which smelled like freshly baked cookies and old books.

"Don't worry, I'll be back before you know it." He answered as he saw Sirius and Remus come down the stairs.

"I love you, Lily." He kissed her deeply, yet urgently.

"I love you too, James."

And that was the last thing he heard before he apparated to the gates of Hogwarts.

They quickly checked the map and confirmed that Wormtail was still in the Room of Requirement.

Then they hurried to the room and Sirius took the job of willing the door to appear. James could not hear what Sirius muttered and he paced back and forth in front of the empty piece of wall.

Then the door appeared and they flung it open and hurried inside. Remus quickly closed the door and locked it so the rat would not be able to escape.

"Oooooh Wooooormtaaaaail?" James called and caught Sirius' eye.

"Come out, come out, wherever you are…" Sirius called, his voice sounding slightly like the bad guy in one of Lily's Muggle films.

Not a sound could be heard.

"Fine! Have it your way then." James called into the room. "Let's see where he's hiding."

Remus brought out the map and activated it. They heard a small squeak somewhere in the room.

And moments later, when the map had appeared, so had a small black dot marked 'Peter Pettigrew' – and it was by the right wall!

They all glanced towards the spot indicated on the map – and stared at an old dresser. Moving as one, they closed in on it.

Quite suddenly Sirius grabbed the dresser and threw it to the floor and James instantly saw a pathetic, thin and slightly balding rat which was trembling violently. He quickly dived towards the rat and emerged moments later, holding the rodent by its tail as it thrashed wildly.

Remus folded the map and put it in his inner pocket as James held the rat as far away from him as possible. It had started gnawing at its own tail to escape.

"On three?" He suggested and lifted his wand. His two friends nodded and readied their wands too.

"One."

"Two." Sirius sneered at the rat which started gnawing even more frantically at its own tail.

"Three." Remus added.

"Vicissitudra" They choired and three beams of blue-white light hit the rat.

James dropped the rodent as it twisted in pain of the forced transformation and started to grow. Moments later a little, watery eyed man sat on the floor and looked up at them.

"Hello Peter," James glared. "Long time, no see."

"J… James…. Old friend…" Wormtail scrambled to his feet. Sirius quickly flicked his wand and Wormtail fell flat on his behind again.

"You're staying there." Sirius sneered.

Wormtail was looking frantically from one ex-friend to the other.

"I… I n… n… never m… meant t… t… to…" He stuttered.

"Shut up." Sirius growled. "We've gone through that once already."

Wormtail seemed to shrink even more in defeat. Then suddenly, he rolled on the floor and grabbed hold of Remus' ankle. With his fake hand… his silver hand!

As soon as James realized what was happening, he moved to pull Peter away, but Remus let out an agonizing scream and fell to the floor, his ankle smoking.

Peter ran to the door and pulled at it frantically as Sirius and James closed in on him.

Suddenly, the door gave a small click and before Peter could pull on it, it slammed open, knocking Peter to the ground with a bloody nose.

* * *

Harry blinked as he was suddenly in his bedroom. Frowning, he went to the door. Locked.

Getting angrier each passing moment, he started to pace.

_I can't believe it! The nerve of him! I have every right to go with them! Actually, it's MY life he ruined! I have more right to go than they do! _

"**You have more right to go than Sirius? Don't you think Wormtail ruined his life too?"** There it was again – that voice sounding like Hermione. How did she get in his head anyway?

_Alright, I have just as much right to go as Sirius!_ He argued back in his mind.

Suddenly he stopped pacing as a horrible thought hit him. _What if something happens like back then? Wormtail blew up a whole street with a single spell… what if he tries something like that!_

_I have to go! _

Abandoning hope of getting out of the door, Harry went to the window. He looked out. He couldn't jump. And even if he did, how would he get to Hogwarts?

_You could fly on your broom…_

That would take a lot of time – time he didn't have.

_Then you'll have to either floo or apparate._

He didn't know how to apparate, so it would have to be the floo. But how?

Deciding he could not just stay there, Harry got his broom from under his bed and slid the window open. _Nice dad – lock the door but not the window… I thought a Marauder would know better!_

Getting out of the window and safely onto the broom was not exactly easy, but Harry managed after a while of some fairly awkward positions.

Hovering on his broom outside the windows, he thought for a moment. The windows on the corner were his parents' rooms. He flew lower, so that he was not visible from the windows. Rising just the slightest, he peeked through the very corner of the window. But he quickly ducked as he caught a glimpse of his mother's red hair inside.

Careful as to not get too high – or too low Harry flew around the corner and counted the windows he thought belonged to his parents. Peeking carefully into a different window he could not believe his luck. He was staring into Sirius' room – and it had a fireplace. And not only that – but a house elf had apparently taken the opportunity to change the sheets.

Harry smirked to himself. A _Potter_- house elf… So it would have to obey him…

"Open this window." He ordered clearly though he was not sure if the elf could hear him or not.

It worked. The elf looked up at him, surprised, but went and opened the window for him.

"Young Master Potter should not be here." The elf objected.

"Don't tell anyone." He said quickly as he crawled through the window and lit a fire with a flick of his wand. Going over the mantelpiece he peered into a clay pot and found the floo powder.

Within moments he rolled out of the fireplace in the Gryffindor common room, much to the surprise of some poor first year who had fallen asleep in front of the fire.

Harry quickly got to his feet and ran out through the portrait hole and towards the Room of Requirement. As he rounded the last corner, he heard a horrible scream and he saw that someone on the inside of the door was pulling frantically at it.

"Alohomora." He whispered and slammed to door open.

The first thing he saw was Wormtail falling to the floor. Quickly taking in the scene, he noticed that the other people in the room were indeed the Marauders.

"Incarcerous!" He yelled and ropes immediately rolled out of his wand and wrapped themselves around Wormtail.

"H… Harry…" Peter squeaked.

"Shut up." Harry interrupted and kicked him none too gently.

James frowned. "Harry… I told you to stay at home."

"And you didn't lock the window." Harry countered with a shrug.

James blinked for a moment. Then he shook his head and sighed. "Let's just take this little bugger to Dumbledore."

"J… James… I… " Peter began.

"Shut up Pettigrew, I don't have anything to discuss with you." James interrupted and cast a silencing charm as Wormtail began to cry. "Moony? Are you alright?"

They left Wormtail by the door and went to Remus who was getting up. "I'll be fine." He gasped.

James frowned. He knew that even though his friend did not look it, he was very tough. "Moony, sit down…"

"Really guys, I'm fine." Remus objected as they helped him to a couch where he sat down.

James pulled the leg of Remus' trousers slightly up and felt his stomach turn at what he saw. Remus' ankle had a large burn. It was red and blistering and very swollen. _That has got to hurt!_

He glanced briefly at Sirius and Harry and caught Harry's eye – Sirius was staring at the floor. James sighed and took out his wand.

"Episkey." He heard Remus hiss as the surface of the burn kneaded together slightly – but not much.

"Did it work?" Remus asked.

"Not much – though it did help a bit." James replied and looked back up at his friend and son.

"I have an idea." Harry said and conjured some bandages which wrapped themselves quite nicely around the ankle. "Can you walk?"

Remus tried to put his weight on the foot but winced and balanced on his good leg as he drew his own wand and conjured a staff. "I'll manage now. We should get going. There is much to be done." And with that he hobbled towards the door.

James glanced at Harry but his son was already following Remus who had just sent off a Patronus to inform the Headmaster of the recent events. Sirius strode over to Wormtail and muttered "Mobilicorpus."

Wormtail's mouth moved as though he strongly objected – but the silencing charm was still in place. He kicked his feet desperately as he was lifted into the air and started to float through the door.

"So… Padfoot… what's the first thing you're going to do as a free man?" James grinned as they waited for the staircase to move into the position they needed.

Sirius looked at him and smirked. "Tonight? or tomorrow?"

"Well, I assume tonight is same as always when we get home. So… tomorrow?" James replied.

"Err… Sirius?" Harry tapped his shoulder.

"Later Harry…" Sirius waved him off. "Well…. Tomorrow… hmm – well I think I'm going to have a look around Diagon Alley. Get some new clothes, a proper haircut – that sort of thing."

"Sirius… you're…" Harry tried again but Sirius hushed him as if he was a three year old.

"Shhh Harry – not now!"

"Sirius! Wormtail!" Harry exclaimed and as James looked towards their prisoner, he could not suppress a snort.

While he talked to James, Sirius had looked away from where he was levitating Wormtail – and he had floated lazily out into the middle of the 7 floors tall hall where he was wriggling desperately while glancing nervously at them.

"Oh…" Sirius shrugged. "Oops…"

He did not sound very sorry at all and knowing Sirius, James would not be surprised if he had done it on purpose.

As the staircase moved into place, they ascended it and approached the Headmaster's office with a kicking Wormtail floating after them.

It seemed that the Patronus had done its job because Dumbledore was waiting for them outside his office.

"I informed the Minister – he should be arriving shortly." Dumbledore said before shepherding them through the door. He stopped Remus. "Mr. Lupin, you should let Madam Pomfrey look at that ankle."

Remus looked like he would prefer to go with the rest of them.

"Go on Moony," James urged. "We'll tell you everything."

Remus then nodded and hobbled off towards the Hospital Wing.

Sirius took a deep breath before they climbed the stairs and James noticed that and padded him comfortingly on the shoulder.

Fudge was waiting for them as they entered the office. He jumped up in surprise when Sirius walked into the room.

"We are here today to prove that Mr. Black is innocent." Dumbledore said immediately.

"Inno...?" Fudge blinked. "That's impossible!"

James stepped forward. "Sirius Black was not my secret keeper." He stated. "Peter Pettigrew was."

"That may be, but it does not change the fact that he blew up a whole street of Muggles!" Fudge insisted.

"Ah, but it does." Dumbledore offered and Fudge stared at the Headmaster as though he was mad. They all waited for him to continue but when he did not add anything else, Sirius grabbed Wormtail and threw him rather roughly at the Minister's feet.

"Here's your proof." He spat.

The Minister stared at the pathetic wizard on the floor. "And who is this?"

"Peter Pettigrew." Dumbledore replied.

"So…" Sirius growled. "_Now_ do I get a trial?"

"Trial?" Fudge looked slightly panicked and tugged at his shirt collar, obviously looking for a way to come out of this with his reputation intact "Well… I don't see why that would be necessary really… Why don't we just settle this right here and now?"

Sirius shrugged. "As long as we settle this, I don't care where."

"I believe that you will get all the answers you want if you question this man under Veritaserum." Dumbledore said and produced a small vial of liquid from his desk drawer.

The Minister stared suspiciously at the vial. "I have my own, thank you." He added and pulled a vial from his own inner pocket.

James caught Harry's eye and could not help smiling when his son rolled his eyes.

Moments later, they had managed to force the necessary drops of liquid into Wormtail's mouth and he was quiet when they lifted the silencing charm.

"What is your name?" Fudge asked and smirked at Sirius as if he had just spoiled some hoax they were planning.

"_Peter Pettigrew."_ Wormtail stated in a bored tone.

The answer effectively wiped the smirk off the Ministers face. He looked around at the other occupants of the room who did not look surprised at all.

"Who was Lily and James Potter's secret keeper?" Dumbledore asked.

"_I was."_

"When you and Sirius met in the street, who was the one to send off the exploding curse?"

"_I was." _

"How did you get away?"

"_Through the sewers:"_

"How did you get into the sewers?"

"_I transformed into a rat. My animagus form."_

James glanced at the Minister. He looked very pale and sweaty.

"What happened to your hand?" Harry suddenly asked.

"_I cut it off."_

"Why?" Harry prompted as he walked closer.

"_It was needed in the potion to resurrect the Dark Lord."_

The Minister's eyes widened at this and Dumbledore looked at him. "Have you heard enough, Minister?"

"Yes… yes, I believe you." The Minister said and sank into a chair, supporting his head in his hands.

They all stared at him in silence for a long time. Then suddenly, he got up.

"Very well," he said. "I will return to my office and ensure that it will be in the Daily Prophet tomorrow that Sirius Black is innocent and gets a full pardon. I will send Aurors to get the prisoner."

He walked towards the fireplace but Dumbledore stopped him before he got that far. "I believe it would only be considered proper if Mr. Black received some sort of compensation for the lost years of his life. And it would also be best if you wrote his pardon right away."

Fudge opened and closed his mouth several times. Finally, his shoulders dropped in defeat.

"Very well." He turned back to the desk where Dumbledore handed him a piece of parchment and a quill.

He dipped the quill in ink and looked at Dumbledore. "20 000 Galleons?"

"Make it 40 000."

Sighing, the Minister started writing and once he had finished, he signed the parchment and handed it to Sirius. Then he hurried to the fireplace and flooed away.

"Well," Dumbledore chuckled. "I will look after the prisoner until the Aurors arrive. You should all go home – I believe you have some celebrating to do."

James nodded. Lily was probably out of her mind with worry that Harry was gone. "Come on Harry."

"So, how exactly did you get out?" He asked as they walked towards the Hospital Wing to get Remus. Harry explained how he had flown out the window and flooed to Hogwarts.

"Are you mad at me, Dad?" the boy asked and James could hear some worry in his voice.

"No, I'm not mad." James admitted. "which is strange, really, because you did not do as I asked you – and you could have gotten really hurt. I guess, I should have considered the windows too – after all you are my son – and I would have done the same thing. We will have to talk some more about that though."

Harry just nodded as they reached the Hospital Wing.

It took them a while to rescue Remus from the Madam Pomfrey. She had healed his ankle as best as she could. He would have to keep the bandages on though and they needed to be changed twice a day. However, she insisted that he stay in bed for the next week and it took a great deal of persuasion for her to allow him to come home with his friends.

They walked quietly through the castle towards the exit.

"Padfoot, are you there?" James asked after a while. "You're awfully quiet."

"Yes, I'm here." Came the reply from behind him.

"You do realize that you are free, don't you?" he asked.

"Yeah."

_Hmm…_ Obviously the news had not sunk in yet. But James knew his best friend well – he would react soon. They walked in silence until they were passing the lake. That was when the news had apparently fully formed in Sirius' head because he let out a loud whoop and did a few flip-flops which were rather poorly aimed - and so, he landed in the lake.

The rest of them laughed at him as he climbed up with a wide grin, casting a drying spell at the same time.

Once outside the grounds, they apparated right into the hall of Potter Manor.

James had barely taken in his new surroundings before he heard Lily's voice. "HARRY!!"

She ran to the boy and wrapped her arms around him. "Oh thank Merlin! Are you alright? Are you alright?"

"Lily, he's fine." James assured his wife who pulled out of the hug she had been giving her son and whacked him over the back of the head.

"THE NERVE OF YOU!" She yelled. "DO YOU HAVE ANY _IDEA_ HOW WORRIED I'VE BEEN???"

James quickly toned his wife out and went to his parents and explained what had happened. However, when he finished explaining and his parents went to bed, Lily was still yelling at Harry and she had long since lost any point she might have had. The fact that she had just denied Harry TV for the next month - when they did not even have such a thing (whatever it was!) – told James that it was time to save his son.

And he knew the best way to do that. He simply walked over, spun his wife around and kissed her passionately. Moments later he felt her hands in his hair and her body press against his.

Harry stared at his parents. He had gotten used to their little shows of affection, but this one was getting a bit heated and he felt his face heat up. Then he felt a hand on his shoulder.

"Come on Harry, I'll save you from having to witness that." Sirius said and steered him towards the kitchen. "Have fun Prongs!" he added as they left the hall.

"Mmm – I'll be… down… later." Came the muffled reply.

They entered the kitchen and Remus promptly sat down.

"So let's see what we've got…" Sirius said and went to a cupboard and looked through the content. "Firewhisky? Nah… Rum? Not in the mood… Ooooh – Never-Ending Mead!"

He turned back towards them with a bottle in his hand.

"Sit down, Harry." He urged as he returned to the table. Harry just gaped at him as he uncorked the bottle and took a rather large swig before sitting down and passing it to Remus.

Watching Remus take a swig, Harry sat down too. Remus passed the bottle back to Sirius who took another swig and held out the bottle in front of Harry.

"Er…"

"Come on, we got the bastard!" Sirius said and nudged Harry's arm with the bottle.

"Sirius…" Remus started.

"Aw, come on, Moony – the kid's 16!" Sirius argued.

"But don't you think Mum will…" Harry trailed off.

"Surely The Great Harry Potter, Savior of the World, isn't scared of his Mum?" Sirius raised his eyebrows. "What happened to the Marauder in you?"

Glaring playfully at Sirius, Harry took the bottle and downed a few mouthfuls of the liquid. It was sweet and it did not burn like firewhisky.

"That tastes alright." He said and passed the bottle on to Remus.

"Yep, sure does. And it doesn't leave a hangover!" Sirius added and took another swig from the bottle. "So did you see the look on Fudges face?"

* * *

"Remember the time when we half-transfigured Snivellus into a bunny?" Sirius roared with laughter and Harry supported his head on the table as he laughed.

"I do." A voice said.

They all turned to see James smirking at them as he leaned against the door frame.

"That was priceless!" James continued as he walked into the room and joined them at the table. "He had bunny ears and a tail and jumped around all day. –He was still as greasy though."

Sirius laughed and passed James the still full bottle. James shook his head. "What kind of godfather are you, Padfoot? As soon as I turn my back, you get my son drunk?"

"Oh, Harry's almost of age – he can handle it! Right Harry?" Sirius argued.

"Right!" Harry added and swayed a bit on his chair.

"And my foot doesn't hurt anymore!" Remus suddenly added.

James chuckled. "Alright, I'm waaay too behind here."

And with that he put the bottle to his lips.

"Padfoot, you do realize you'll be able to go to the party now, right?" he asked to start the conversation again.

"Yeah, that'll be fun." Sirius smirked and James knew exactly what his friend was thinking. And so did Remus.

"Prongs, may I sound-proof my room?" he asked.

"Oh, no need!" Sirius laughed. "I know how to cast a Privacy Spell."

"We know that, Padfoot – you just tend to forget…" James chuckled.


	17. Holiday Cheer

**A/N Well, another update for you! Thought I'd get the Christmas chapter out before we get started on January. This update is mostly Marauder fluff and Harry/parents fluff. I hope you'll enjoy it anyway :) Happy New Years to all of you!**

Chapter 17 – Holiday Cheer

Harry groaned as he emerged from the world of blissful sleep into a world where it felt like someone had centered a Cruciatus Curse on his head. And to add to his misery, he was feeling more nauseous as each moment passed.

He swallowed and concentrated on staying absolutely still. However, it did not take long before he became aware of the absolutely horrible taste in his mouth which did nothing at all to ease his nausea.

Suddenly he was not sure that he could fight the nausea much longer and with another groan, he rolled out of bed and staggered down the corridor to the bathroom.

Moments later, Harry retched into the toilet – or, at least tried to – because nothing came up except for a little bit of stomach acid. He fleetingly berated himself for thinking there would be anything to throw up. He was sitting on the floor and wiping his mouth and nose when someone knocked on the door.

"Harry?" he heard Sirius' muffled voice call through the door.

Slowly, Harry got up and opened the door to find a way too cheerful Sirius beaming at him. Harry glared in return and Sirius paled slightly. "You don't look too well today…" he commented slowly.

"I thought you said that it didn't leave hangovers?" Harry groaned.

"Yeah… well," Sirius scratched the back of his head. "It's true – most of the time – but when it does, they're monster hangovers. But if you wait here, I'll get you some Hangover Potion. Just… err… don't let your Mum see you like that… "

And with that Sirius disappeared into his room and returned moments later with a small vial of red potion.

"Down it. You'll feel better." He said and handed Harry the small vial.

Harry looked at the vial. He was not at all sure that he would be able to keep it down. Then he quickly uncorked the vial and downed the potion, coughing at the bad taste. The taste was worth it though. As soon as he had replaced the cork on the vial, he felt his nausea fade and his headache lift.

"Wow…" He blinked.

"Handy, isn't it?" Sirius grinned.

Harry nodded in agreement and marveled that the action was not the slightest bit painful.

"Thanks Sirius." He smiled.

"Just saving myself." Sirius smiled back. "If you Mum found out, she'd kill me. And I have no intention of letting that happen now that I'm free. So… are you feeling alright now?"

"Yeah," Harry nodded. "I'm very thirsty though. I think I'll go get something to eat."

"Perhaps you'd like to put on some clothes first?" Sirius grinned and Harry realized that he was only wearing his underpants.

"Good idea…" he agreed sheepishly.

Harry quickly returned to his room, looked in the closet and found a set of dark red robes with golden embroidery and pulled them on before dashing downstairs to the kitchen where he found his grandmother baking gingerbread men and women.

"Morning Grandma." He greeted as he entered.

"Good day, Harry" She smiled back and he looked at the clock on the wall. "Lunch" it said.

"Oh… yeah." He replied lamely and got a pan and cracked some eggs onto it... "Er… Grandma… could you?"

"Oh of course, Dear." She pulled her wand out of her apron and tapped the pan. The eggs immediately sizzled and finished.

"You'll have to teach me that spell someday." He grinned and put the eggs on a plate and sat down to eat.

While he ate he flipped through this morning's edition of the Daily Prophet. The headline was – of course –about Sirius' newly gained freedom and Wormtail's capture. Not surprisingly, the Ministry had twisted the events slightly so that it sounded like it was all their merit. Wormtail had been given the Kiss, it said, and for a moment, Harry felt sorry for the man. Until he remembered all the damage he had done. Still, did anyone deserve that fate? Harry pushed the thought out of his mind.

"Harry, will you help me?" His grandmother asked as he had finished eating. "They're done baking."

She was, of course, talking about the gingerbread men. Harry nodded and got up – although he was not completely sure why his mother would need help for that. He soon found out though – for the very moment she opened the oven, the little men and women jumped to their feet and let off shrill laughs as they jumped out of the oven and began to run off. They reminded Harry slightly of garden gnomes. His seeker abilities did come in handy though and he caught the first one quickly. He let go of it just as quickly though as it was burning hot! Of course he should have known that as they came right out of the oven…

After they were caught, however, they did not run away again and he could easily pick up the one that he had dropped and put it on the table. A gingerbread woman came running over to the man he had just put on the table and tried to shake him awake. When he did not respond she placed her head on his chest and started sobbing. Harry curiously watched the little display but his grandmother just picked the woman up and she went still too.

Soon after they had caught all of them and had them safely stored away in a cookie jar.

Later that day, Harry received a short letter from Ron.

_Hi Harry,_

_What happened? We saw the article in the paper but I'm guessing that's not the whole truth. _

_How is everything there?_

_All is well here – except for the fact that Ginny has been talking non-stop about that ball. She's very excited about it so you better make sure she has a nice evening – now that you had to ask her. And you better treat her well!_

_Ron_

Harry could not stop smiling after hearing about Ginny. He wrote back to Ron and explained what had happened the night before. Then he thought for a moment, then grinned and added.

_I'm looking forward to that ball too. _

_I'll also have you know that Hermione is like a sister to me. And you really should ask her to go with you – or I might have to come up with something to do the trick. _

Harry then signed the letter and sent it off.

* * *

Harry had not seen Sirius since he had met him that morning and he did not give it any second thought until they were having supper that evening and Sirius' seat was empty. However, the cottage pie was delicious and Harry was on his thirds when they heard all heard a strange roaring sound. Harry saw his father raise an eyebrow to Remus who smirked. Moments later, a man strode into the kitchen and took Sirius' seat.

"Sorry I'm late." He apologised with a slight grin.

Harry gaped at him, his supper momentarily forgotten. Had Harry been looking at the other occupants of the table, he would have known that he was not the only one who was staring.

Sirius looked so different. He had had his hair cut much shorter so that it now fell in casual, shaggy strands into his eyes and around his face. He had also gotten new robes which looked quite expensive.

Harry had to admit the change was… well… magical. Sirius looked so much younger than he had a few hours before. He seemed to enjoy the stares he was receiving as he filled his plate with pie.

After a few moments, James and Remus simultaneously began to chuckle and soon laugh openly as James patted Sirius on the back. Harry could not help but grin.

"So, I take it you've had a good day, Padfoot?" Remus asked.

"Yeah, I went to Diagon Alley to look around a bit and purchase some necessities."

"Really, Padfoot? I didn't know dragon hide trousers counted as necessities." James smirked.

Sirius gaped at him. "Did you spy on me?"

James laughed. "No, I just took a guess – and you just proved me right."

"Oh fine, I did some shopping too. People stared a lot though." Sirius rolled his eyes.

"Well honestly, Sirius, you never were one to dislike attention." Remus argued.

"Yeah well, this is a different sort of attention. I'm beginning to understand why you don't like that, Harry." Sirius frowned.

"Oh, don't worry," Harry comforted. "You get sort of used to it after a while."

"Harry, may we have a word?" James asked after dinner.

Harry looked a bit startled but nodded and followed James and Lily to their room, which also contained a living room.

"Harry, we need to talk about what happened last night." James began as he sat down in their couch.

"I'm sorry about that." Harry replied quietly.

"You really scared me when you were suddenly gone." Lily said and rubbed Harry's back.

"I didn't mean to," Harry replied. "but Dad was going and… I wanted to help and… make sure that Dad was alright…" he trailed off.

"Harry," James said and put a comforting hand on his son's shoulder. "You can't save everyone. And you need to remember that there are people who love you. People who get very worried if you suddenly disappear. There was a reason why I wanted you to stay here."

"The exact same reason why you wanted to go with them." Lily added.

"I wanted _you_ to me safe." James said.

"And you wanted James safe." Lily said softly.

Harry nodded quietly.

"Harry, I know it can't be easy," James continued. "after all, this is very new to you. And I know you haven't had the easiest life. And I have a feeling that you really just want a normal life. But have you ever considered the fact that if you really want that then you have to act like a normal teenage boy as well? You shouldn't be worried about war and Death Eaters. Let us worry about that – and then you could worry about girls and Quidditch and homework."

Harry frowned.

"Just think about it, Harry." Lily smiled. "And do try to remember that we care as much about you as you do about us – if not more."

With a sigh, Harry nodded and hugged his mother. James put his arms around both of them.

* * *

"WAAAAAAAAAAAKEEEEEEEEEEE UP"

Harry did not really have a choice but to do as asked as whoever was currently jumping on his bed had clearly used a Sonorus charm. And of course there was also the fact that whoever was jumping on his bed was fairly large.

With a groan, Harry forced his eyes open. "Alright, alright." He mumbled as he reached for his glasses and put them on. Then he was able to tell that it was Sirius who was jumping on his bed.

"Are you up now?" Sirius grinned at him.

"Yeah…" Harry rubbed his eyes behind the glasses and yawned. "What time is it?"

"It's half past 5!" Sirius replied and jumped a bit more on Harry's bed just for the effect.

"That's not even morning, Sirius!" Harry threw himself back down on the bed and pulled his covers over his head.

"Normally, no – but today it's Christmas!" Sirius replied and tore the covers off Harry.

Harry blinked. "Oh… yeah…"

"What are you waiting for? Come on! Let's get downstairs!" Sirius pulled him to his feet and dragged him towards the door.

Not long after everyone was gathered around the Christmas tree in their night robes, unwrapping presents.

James carefully unwrapped Harry's present for him and Lily. Lily watched curiously over his shoulder. It was a fairly large box – almost the size of a small suitcase. It had a lock in the front which snapped open when James tapped it with his wand. At first he frowned at the strange content. The box was full of small vials. Then he lifted up one of the vials – and he understood.

"My first flying lesson." The label on the bottle said. Inside the vial swished a silvery, cloud-like liquid.

James heard a sniff behind him and looked up at Lily whose eyes were slightly moist. He pulled her down to him in a hug and a comforting kiss before he looked at the labels of some of the other vials which read "Accidental magic, age 4.", "Hogwarts letter.", and "Patronus."

He looked up and caught Harry's eye. The boy looked a bit unsure of himself.

"Harry…" James breathed. "That's… "

"Such a wonderful present." Lily finished and went to hug her son, who was still holding the copy of _"500 Stunts on Your Broomstick That Will Spellbind Your Audience." by Dacia Daive_, which he had just unwrapped.

"But, Harry…" James shook his head. "These are a lot of memories. You can't just give us them. – You need them yourself."

"Don't worry, Dad." Harry smiled. "I had Hermione help me figure out how to duplicate them. I still have them too."

"Well, I think we have a pensieve somewhere." James grinned. "I'll look for it after breakfast."

And with that, they filed into the formal dining room to devour a wonderful breakfast – everyone still in their night robes.


	18. Pensieves, Preparations and an Octopus

**A/N: Well, once again, sorry for the long wait. First, I got busy searching for a job and then I've been ill. I'm fine now though and starting my job soon :) Enjoy!**

Chapter 18: Pensieves, preparations and an octopus

The next morning, Harry hurried downstairs for breakfast to find his family already up.

"… too important." His father finished as Harry joined the table and reached for some toast.

"Well, people are still celebrating." Remus replied as he reached for the paper that James had put aside.

Harry scanned the table and found an empty seat. "Where's Sirius?"

"Sleeping." James and Remus answered in unison.

"Now do him justice," Harry's grandmother objected. "Perhaps he's in the shower or out on errands."

"Please Mum," James said. "Sirius' morning routine consists purely of spells. That would only take him two minutes to complete. And he would not go out on errands without having breakfast first. He's sleeping."

Harry noticed that his father and Remus exchanged a glace. He'd be worried if he was Sirius.

"Though perhaps it is time for Padfoot to wake up." James added.

"Oh yes," Remus grinned, looking 10 years younger all of a sudden. "Definitely time."

With a smirk, James raised his right hand and snapped his fingers. Almost instantly, a yell came from upstairs.

"AAAAAARRRGGGHHH!"

Seconds later they heard a door slamming and hurried footsteps down the stairs and then Sirius appeared in the doorway.

There was a moment of silence before they all cracked up.

Sirius was still in his night robes – his bludger patterned night robes. And he was sopping wet. But that was not the best part – oh no – the best part was the sea weed that clung to his head like a wig.

"Good. Morning. Padfoot." James said in-between his laughs.

Sirius did not reply. He just glared at James as he pulled the sea weed out off and sat down. Lily quickly performed a drying charm but he still smelled strongly of ocean.

He grumbled as he devoured his breakfast but then his mood improved gradually as if the amount of food in his stomach equalled his mood.

Harry could not help but smirk when he observed a certain detail about Sirius' appearance.

"Uncle Sirius, is that a hickey?" he exclaimed and blinked in what he really hoped was a very innocent way.

Sirius froze mid-chew and stared at Harry then looked down at his chest where his night robes had parted.

"No, it's not." He growled. "But I'm curious as to how my godson would have any idea what a hickey looks like?"

He lifted his eyebrows and pulled his robes shut. Harry felt his cheeks heat up slightly.

"Actually, Padfoot, that looked very much like a hickey." James commented and by doing so rescued his son. "Come on… let us see…"

"No!"

Harry looked at his father who returned the glance.

"Harry, would you like the honour?" he asked.

"Certainly!" he exclaimed and with a quick gesture of his hand, one side of Sirius' robe lowered to show a reddish mark.

Sirius tugged at the upper edge of the robe but it would not budge.

"Now remind me again," James grinned. "What is that?"

"Well it's your fault!" Sirius spluttered, causing Remus to choke on his pumpkin juice and James to look very surprised.

"Err…what?" he gaped.

Sirius looked like he had let more slip than he wanted to.

"Err… never mind?" he asked hopefully.

James raised his eyebrows. "Oh no, Padfoot, please inform us how that mark can be my fault. I'm very interested in that - and I'm sure my wife is as well."

"No, this is one of the things I don't really want to know." Lily objected.

Sirius mumbled something incoherent.

"Sorry, what was that?"

"It was the octopus!" he repeated.

A moment later, the room exploded in laughter. Sirius mumbled something about waking up by being over poured with cold salt water and slimy animals.

"Padfoot's romance with the octopus…" Remus gasped.

"Tell me, Padfoot," James added. "Did you run out of human females?"

mwmwmmwmwmwm

Later that morning, James watched his son fidget nervously. They were about to jump into the pensienve to watch a memory of Harry when he was 7 years old. A memory of one of the times he had accidentally released magic.

Sending an encouraging smile in his son's direction, he moved forward and plunged into the pensieve. He landed on asphalt and was soon joined by Lily and Harry. James jumped when a loud bell rang and his wife and son chuckled at him.

"Where are we?" he asked and ignored their sniggering.

"A Muggle school, Dear." Lily replied.

"But… Harry attends Hogwarts…" James scratched his neck.

"Muggle children go to school earlier than that. To learn math and how to read and write and such." Lily explained.

James frowned. Why didn't Muggles just teach their children these things themselves like Wizards did?

He opened his mouth to say so but never got that far because all of a sudden a crowd of children spilled out of the building.

James scanned the crowd for unruly black hair but did not see any. "Where are you, Harry?"

"I'll be out in a bit." Harry replied and James noticed that he was biting his lip.

They waited until the crowd had cleared. Then, when the school yard was deserted, the door opened and a small boy came outside.

James' heart twitched painfully. Little Harry looked exactly like James himself had at that age. Except for his eyes of course… and the oversized clothes and spellotaped glasses. Or whatever they called the Muggle equivalent of Spellotape.

"Oh Harry!" Lily rushed to the little boy's side and attempted to pull him into a hug. Unfortunately, she went right through him and obliviously, Little Harry started walking.

Lily blinked sadly and looked at her two Potter boys sheepishly before she went back and hugged Older Harry instead.

They followed Little Harry along the school building. When he reached an alleyway, suddenly Dudley and a few of his friends stepped out in front of him.

Little Harry did not waste a second. He turned and ran… right through James – who jumped in surprise and got out of the way before the other boys followed.

True, he could not feel the memory pass through him but it was still creepy since the people appeared solid enough.

They had to run to keep up with Little Harry who rounded a corner. When they reached the corner, James felt his stomach sink as he realized that another two boys had been waiting for Harry there. He had caught the little boy and pinned his arms behind his back.

James had never felt so helpless. He wanted to curse these boys so badly but he knew it would not make any difference because this had already happened.

The real Harry was staring intently at his feet. James put a comforting hand on his shoulder and in response, Harry leaned slightly against him.

Little Harry narrowed his eyes as the rest of Dudley's gang approached him. James reached for Lily with his free arm and drew her close too.

"Did you really think you could escape?" Dudley drawled.

Harry did not reply.

"Perhaps… if you ask nicely enough… we'll let you go." He continued.

Still no reply.

"BEG YOU LITTLE BUG!"

Little Harry just glared in response and was rewarded with a punch to the face.

Lily let out a strangled gasp.

"BEG!"

"I don't think so, Diddidums!" Little Harry replied, imitating Petunia's voice as he said the pet name.

James winced and closed his eyes for a second. Harry really should not have said that. He opened his eyes just in time to see Little Harry kick the shins of the boy who was holding back his arms. The boy yelped and Little Harry took off. They followed him as he turned into an alley and ran towards some dumpsters which he tried to jump into. _POP_

James blinked. Little Harry was gone. Confused, James looked around and Older Harry nudged him and pointed upwards.

There, on the roof top, sat a very surprised looking Little Harry. They heard shuffling and Dudley and his gang arrived at the scene – the boy who had let Harry escape now sported what looked like it would soon become a black eye. They looked around stupidly until one of them noticed Harry and pointed towards him. Then they just stared stupidly.

"Oi, Harry…" James whispered to get his son's attention. When he had it, he turned to Dudley and repeatedly punched right through the memory of Dudley's head.

That made Harry grin. "He always was a bit thin headed."

They watched in a lighter mood as a teacher discovered Harry and had the fire brigade come and help him down.

Then they were suddenly back in the kitchen of Potter Manor.

James immediately went to the table and sat down as he processed what he had seen.

"Harry, I'm so so sorry…" he breathed.

"It's ok Dad, it's not your fault." Harry assured him and placed a comforting hand on his shoulder, just like he, James, had done for Harry earlier.

"Apart from that," Lily said as she joined them by the table. "Harry, you apparated onto that roof…"

Harry nodded. "I didn't really know that, though, until I watched it today."

"Apparition… as accidental magic… at age 7…" James beamed at his son as he felt a surge of pride grow in his heart and then spread steadily throughout his body from head to toe.

"Well, it wasn't the first time I accidentally did something…" Harry blinked, looking confused.

"I know that…" James smiled fondly as he remembered his son's first sign of being magical. "The first was once you dropped your teddy bear and Summoned it back."

However, Baby Harry had not known that when you summon something, you have to catch it, so the teddy bear had hit him over the head and they had had a hard time comforting him.

"Your magic is strong, Harry…" Lily said and brought James back to the present. "Apparition is not normally something a child can do without instruction – not even accidentally. And you didn't splinch yourself either."

"Oh…" Harry sighed.

"That's a good thing Harry." James added. "Why the frown?" For Harry did look a bit upset.

"Well, it's not really like I need to be different in more ways, is it?" He replied quietly and somewhat sadly.

"Well, we won't tell anyone – if you don't want us to." Lily offered and pulled Harry into a hug.

"I'd like that…" he replied, his voice muffled by his mother's hug.

Mwmwmmwmwmwmwmwmwm

Harry watched expectantly as his father, Sirius and Remus lit the dungeon room, conjured a fire and some chocolate and butterbeer. They had summoned another Marauder's meeting and Harry supposed he would be getting more tips on pranking. He watched patiently as his father paced.

"Sit down, Prongs…" Sirius finally said and James did as asked.

"Alright Harry… There's another part of being a Marauder – besides the pranking." James cleared his throat and Harry thought he looked a bit uncomfortable. "Girls…"

_Oh. My. God… This is not happening…_

"And since you're taking a certain little redhead to the ball, we believe it's time for that particular lesson…"

_OK… it IS happening. Merlin, how do I escape?_

Harry suddenly felt very hot. He tugged at the neckline of his robes as his eyes darted around the room. _Nope, only one exit… _He would never make it there without them stopping him.

"Yeah yeah – enough of that…" Sirius interrupted. "Have you ever kissed a girl?"

Harry opened and closed his mouth a few times as he looked at the three Marauders who were all staring at him, Remus looking slightly apologetic. "Well… yeah…" he sputtered.

Then, figuring he might just get this over with, he told them about his date with Cho.

The talk turned out not to be as horrible as he had imagined. Even though it was extremely embarrassing, it might turn out quite useful.

"So, Prongs…" Sirius said two hours later. "Who are you taking to the ball?"

James looked confused. "Err… my wife?"

"Oh yeah… you're tied on hands and feet…" Sirius shrugged.

James rolled his eyes. "And what about you Padfoot?"

"Nah, I'm flying solo." Sirius grinned and draped his arm around Remus. "Moony and I are going to swim in single witches – just like in the old days."

Remus chuckled and removed Sirius' arm from his shoulder. "Actually, Padfoot, you'll get to "swim" by yourself - I have a date."

"You have?" Sirius blinked.

"Yes…"

"Well, more for me then…" Sirius grinned.

"What happened to your plan of keeping a safe distance, Moony?" James asked.

"Well, it's different with Wolfbane Potion… That, and she thought my plan was bull." Remus smiled sheepishly.

James laughed. "Well, good for you, Moony."

"ARGH James! Perhaps we should sound proof Moony's room?" Sirius groaned exaggeratedly.

Mwmwmwmwmwmwmmw

Harry adjusted his robed nervously and glanced at the clock. 5:45 PM. He sighed. 15 more minutes before he was picking Ginny up.

He straightened his back and subconsciously ran a hand through his hair.

"May I have this dance?" he asked into thin air and bowed, trying to remember what his mother had taught him about balls during the past few days. He added in a (hopefully) charming smile, trying to remember what his father and the other Marauders had taught him. He then swung around the room in a few steps of the Wizarding Waltz he had practiced for hours with his mum.

He smiled to himself at the fact that he remembered it.

"You'll do alright…" his mirror offered.

Harry glanced at the watch which now read 5:53 PM.

He checked the mirror one last time. The mirror image raised it's eyebrows, looking amused. He supposed he had been checking a lot today.

Then he left his room and went to the hall where his portkey was waiting. Since flooing dirtied your robes, portkeys had been arranged for those who were for some reason unable to apparate. Harry grabbed the piece of parchment and felt it activate.

Moments later, his feet slammed against the paving outside the Burrow. He approached the house and knocked.

"Oh hello, Harry!" Mrs. Weasley smiled as she opened the door. She was wearing dark brown dress robes. "Come on in, Ginny will be down in a moment."

She went upstairs, leaving Harry in the kitchen. A minute later he heard her call for Ginny.

As he waited, Harry's eyes fell on the Weasley's clock. He was pleased to note that none of the arms pointed to 'Mortal Peril'. According to the clock, Mr. and Mrs. Weasley, Ginny, Fred and George were 'home'. Ron, Bill and Charlie were 'travelling'. Percy's hand pointed to 'work'.

Harry sighed. Even now that the war was over, Percy had not shown any interest in re-joining his family and he had declined the invitation to the party.

Harry's attention was pulled from the clock when he heard a clicking sound from the stairs. He looked in the direction of the sound and completely forgot to breathe.

Ginny was descending the stairs and she looked… well, divine was the closest Harry could get. She was wearing a tight fitting, light yellow dress robes which made her hair look even redder. The satin-like dress robes hugged her figure in a way that Harry could only appreciate.

"Hi" She smiled.

"Hi…" Harry breathed. And then he remembered to add. "You look beautiful."

"Thanks, you look great too." She beamed as she put on a light blue knitted shawl and then her cloak.

"Shall we?" Harry smiled and received a nod in return.

"Mum! We're leaving!" Ginny yelled towards the stairs.

"See you there, Dear!" came the reply seconds later.

Then they walked outside and activated the portkey which also happened to be Ginny's invitation.


	19. Princesses and Frogs

**A/N Well, FINALLY the long awaited Chapter 19. And a long one too. I ate a whole box of Chocolate Frogs while typing this up. Yes we do have those in Denmark. They're filled with mint and caramel creme. **

**Also, I'd like to let you know that I played around a bit and made a trailer for the story. It can be found at YouTube if you search for 'Superi'. **

**Chapter 19: Princesses and Frogs**

"Wow" Ginny breathed as they arrived on the footpath that led to Potter Manor. Her breath formed little clouds in the cold winter air.

Harry was thinking the same thing. Not about his house though as he had gotten slightly used to it now. No, he was staring at his date for the evening.

"I know…" he smiled as they walked closer to the house.

The large, double entrance doors were open now and Harry saw that his grandfather was waiting in the doorway to greet the guests.

"Grandpa, this is Ginny Weasley." Harry grinned proudly as they reached the doors. "Ginny, this is my grandpa."

"Welcome Miss Weasley," Harry's grandfather smiled and kissed her hand. "I'm pleased to see that my grandson has such great taste in women."

Ginny's cheeks flushed adorably and Harry was quite thankful that other guests arrived so they had to move inside. This could get really embarrassing.

They put their cloaks on a cloak rack by the entrance from where they immediately vanished.

Harry led Ginny into the Hall where a tray immediately floated over to them, carrying glasses filled with a shimmering, light substance that Harry thought looked like liquid moonlight.

They each took a glass and Harry watched the roaring fire in the fireplace as he thought about what to say. Ginny seemed busy taking in her surroundings.

"So… how was your Christmas?" he asked and mentally kicked himself. _Nice one Potter… that was about as intelligent as discussing the weather!_

"Oh, it was great!" She smiled. "And yours? Must have been… well, different…"

"Oh, different indeed!" he grinned back. "Best Christmas I've ever had."

"Your house is…" she looked around again. "…huge!"

Harry was about to offer her a tour when Cornelius, the house ghost, suddenly appeared through the wall.

"How do you do, Harry." He nodded cheerfully.

"How do you do, Cornelius." Harry smiled and then he looked at Ginny. "Oh, Good Even, my young lady. Such a stunning beauty, my youngest heir has found! Hair like flaming tendrils contrasting such milky skin… no surprise, of course… eyes so warm…"

"Thank you, Cornelius, that is quite enough!" They turned to see James and Lily approaching. James wore black dress robes adorned with golden embroidery. The black robes perfectly matched his hair. Lily wore silky green robes which fit tightly around her. Her robes were decorated with elaborate embroidered flowers which climbed the lowers parts of the robes. Harry recognised several species of magical flowers as the embroidery bloomed before his eyes.

"Ah, the young Mrs. Potter!" Cornelius exclaimed. "Such a beauty is impossibly to surpass. Although I believe you must share the title with this young maiden."

"Cornelius, I saw your date in the dining room. Perhaps you should save some praise for her." James suggested, looking amused.

"Well, I shall go find her then. Though I must admit, they are more stunning in colour…" And with that, he disappeared through the wall.

"Sorry about that-" James grinned. "That's why we call him Corny Cornelius. I do hope he did not get out of line."

"Oh no, it's fine." Ginny smiled.

"I think you saved us from that." Harry added.

"Well, I'm Harry's mother, as you might have guessed." Lily smiled at Ginny.

"Ginny Weasley, pleased to meet you Mrs. Potter." Ginny smiled back.

"Likewise," Lily replied. "Harry… did you…"

"Now, now," James interrupted. "I believe we should let our son have his date without us butting in too much." He smiled at Harry and dragged Lily off towards the stairs where Sirius was coming down to join the party.

. Sirius was wearing a set of midnight blue robes which fit rather tightly. James smiled to himself. He had missed this side of his best friend –as strange as that sounded.

"Nice robes…" James raised an eyebrow.

"Yeah, aren't they? Tell me honestly though…" Sirius batted his eyelashes and ran a hand down his side. "Do they make me look fat?"

James snorted. "I'm _so _not answering that."

"Aw… Lily?" Sirius tried the puppy eyes which honestly worked better for him when he was Padfoot.

"Actually, I think you look very handsome." Lily smiled and put her arms suggestively around him.

Sirius grinned and put an arm around her waist and pulled her to him, placing a soft kiss on her lips.

"Oi! That's my wife!" James whacked him over the back of his head and pried Lily out of Sirius' arms. "Get your own!" He pulled her to him and kissed her soundly.

"Dear, you do realise that by kissing me just now, right after Sirius just did, you'd technically be kissing Sirius as well…" Lily raised an eyebrow at him.

_Ew… EW EW EW EW! _

"Ew! Padfoot, don't ever do that again!" He exclaimed as he wiped his mouth with his sleeve.

"Well," Sirius just smiled. "Once you're over that, you might be interested in knowing that Moony just arrived."

James turned his head to see Remus greeting the oldest Mr. Potter very politely, considering the fact that Remus lived there most of the time nowadays. On his arm was a young woman with waist long blonde curls.

They watched as he took her cloak, spotted them and led her towards them, catching her as she stumbled slightly.

"Why hello." Sirius grinned in a way that told James that there was something he did not know and it was definitely teasing material.

"Hello, Sirius." Remus smiled, obviously ignoring the grin.

"Wotcher, Sirius." Remus' date grinned.

"James, Lily, this is Nymphadora. Nymphadora, this is James and Lily Potter." Remus said and turned slightly away from Sirius.

"Remus, I told you, it's Tonks." She hissed at him before greeting them with a smile.

"Well, pleased to meet you, _Tonks_." Lily smiled.

"Yes, and welcome to Potter Manor." James added, suddenly remembering that he was son of the host.

"Thanks, and welcome back." She smiled. "Oh! I'll just go say hello to Harry."

The moment she was off, Sirius slung an arm around Remus' shoulders. "Moony, Moony, Moony…" he sighed, shaking his head.

"What, Padfoot?" Remus asked with a smile and rolled his eyes to James.

"You didn't think it would be wise to… oh, I don't know… ask permission?" Sirius raised an eyebrow.

"Since when did you become her father, Pads?" Remus snorted.

"I'm not… She is, however, family – and the good kind… and as such, you should ask permission." Sirius grinned.

"And if I did, what would you tell me?" Remus raised an eyebrow.

"That you're an old dog… what is she? 18?"

"She's 23!" Remus objected. "And usually, you're the dog."

Sirius opened his mouth to reply but something else caught his attention. Instead, he dropped his arm off Remus' shoulder, drained his glass and left with only a single word. "Woof."

They watched as he headed towards the door.

James spotted a group of three witches who had just arrived. He exchanged a glance with Remus and they shared a snigger. They would not hear the conversation as Sirius reached the witches and asked one of them something. They could, however, hear the loud smack that resounded through the hall as she slapped him. Hard, by the look of it.

James winced and looked at Remus, who raised an eyebrow at him.

"Lost your touch?" he asked in an amused voice as Harry and his date rushed over to them – now accompanied by Ron and Hermione.

Sirius scowled. "That was Cinna Bridges."

"Ooooh." Remus commented with a wince.

"Who's that?" Ron asked, watching as Sirius rubbed his sore cheek.

"The "Greenbridge catastrophy" explained James. "Cinna went to Hogwarts with us. A few years under us. Sirius went out with her."

"In a way that puts a different meaning to "double dating". Remus added.

"It was the Halloween Ball and Sirius had forgotten that he already had a date with Cinna, so he asked a girl named Julia Green. Instead of sorting it out, he went with both of them – without the other knowing. So he spent the evening trying to divide time between the two girls without either of them noticing."

"It worked!" Sirius objected, still holding a hand to his face.

"Until you were snogging Julia at the buffet and Cinna decided to grab a bite while waiting for you." Remus laughed.

Soon, the hall was full of guests and they entered the ballroom which currently had three long tables running the length of the hall and a high table on a slightly raised platform at the end of the hall nearest the door. The room was decorated with glittering decorations in gold and silver.

Harry chanced to place his hand on the small of Ginny's back as he guided her through the crowd the short way to the high table where they would be seated along with the rest of his family.

Ginny smiled in response and Harry felt strangely warm inside – as if he had recently had a glass of firewhisky.

They went to their designated seats at the left end of the table and Harry exchanged glances with Ron as he pulled out Ginny's chair for her. Ron and Hermione had the seats nearest the high table at the table right in front of Harry and Ginny. The rest of the Weasleys were also seated here along with a few other friends that Harry had asked to be invited.

Harry felt a bit strange about this. It meant that he would spend the first hours of his date with Ginny right in front of her parents and brothers. That was not exactly ideal.

At the centre table sat a lot of older men that Harry supposed were friends of his grandfather. Among them, he spotted Dumbledore and McGonagall.

At the right table sat Remus and Tonks on one side and Sirius at the other. Sirius sat next to a woman in red dress robes and long, straight, blonde hair and he did not seem to be paying her much attention even though she seemed eager to talk to him.

"I still can't believe that you live in a place like this!" Ginny breathed.

It was the first time since they arrived that they had had a chance to actually talk. Lots of people had come to shake their hands and talk to them. Now people were seated which meant a bit of peace and quiet.

"This is so strange…" Ginny continued. "I feel like a princess."

Suddenly feeling very smooth, Harry leaved in a bit and whispered: "You look like a princess too."

She blushed and he felt oddly confident. However, that quickly changed when he realized that while they were undisturbed at the high table, everyone in the room could see them. And a lot of people were staring.

* * *

"What's that?" he whispered to his grandmother on his other side as the main course appeared on the plates. It was some sort meat but slightly bluish in colour and with a consistency unlike any meat Harry had seen before.

At the table in front of him, Ron poked the bluish meat with his fork and made an interesting face. Hermione scolded him and glanced up at Harry.

"It's diricawl." His grandmother informed. "It's a magical delicacy. Try it… it's very good."

Harry stared at the dish and tried to ignore its colour as he cut a bit off and tasted it – fully aware of the attention placed on him – after all, he was trying hard not to squirm in his seat.

At first, it tasted much like turkey but then it started tickling slightly in his mouth and a strange comfortable feeling spread through him. The closest he could come to describing it was _warmth._

When he recovered from the slight surprise, his friends at the table in front of him had also started eating.

"Harry, I was just thinking," Ginny began. "Why did the ghost comment on my hair colour as 'no surprise'?"

"Oh… err…" Harry blinked and felt his face warm up.

Ginny was looking at him expectantly.

"Well… um…" he swallowed a lump. "Apparently Potters are known to… well… marry redheads."

"Oh…" Ginny gaped slightly and blushed a very Weasley-red.

Beside him, Harry heard his grandmother chuckle slightly and so he spent the rest of the dinner worrying that she was listening in on what he talked to Ginny about. Adding that to the fact that he felt very exhibited and that he struggled with the conversation with Ginny because he was so conscious of her family watching, meant that all in all Harry did not have a particularly great time at dinner.

So Harry was grateful when his grandfather announced that dinner had ended and with a wave of his hand vanished all the tables except their own.

Harry sighed.

His father had explained to him that he would have to open the dance with the rest of the Potters. Harry had panicked slightly when he learned this fact but luckily Lily had taken it upon herself to improve her son's dancing skills.

_Just get this one thing over with and you can have fun._

Harry repeated this mantra in his head as his grandparents passed behind him and Ginny to go to the newly cleared dance floor. His parents followed and Harry offered Ginny a hand which she took with a smile as they took their spot as the third couple to enter the dance floor. Her hand was amazingly soft.

As they walked the short way through the guests, Harry avoided looking at anyone. However, as his parents moved onto the dance floor, he could not help but notice how well they danced. It made him feel rather inadequate.

He quickly forgot the many eyes on him, though, when he placed his hand on Ginny's waist and started the waltz as he had practiced with his mother.

_She's so close_

He could feel the heat off her body and the light scent of roses that always accompanied her, washed over him.

Before he knew it, the dance floor was full of other people. Even Cornelius, the house ghost, waltzed a female ghost around gracefully. She wore wide dress robes with a very low neckline and her transparent hair was done up in ringlets.

Harry was very disappointed when Ginny stopped and pulled away from him.

"Can we go and get some drinks?" she asked, her face flushed. Harry thought it looked wonderful.

Relieved, he nodded and they worked their way through the crowd towards the high table which had been converted to a light buffet. He moved towards the punch bowl when Ginny put a hand on his arm.

"Maybe that's not such a good idea." She said.

"Why?" he blinked, painfully aware that she had not removed her hand.

"Well… the twins are here… and so are the Marauders. Do you really want to take the chance?" she nodded her head at the punch.

Harry had to agree that she did have a point. So they had some sparkling wine instead – fresh from the kitchen. They stood by the buffet for a while and Harry told Ginny some of the things he had learned about the house and his family history. And then they observed Remus dancing with Tonks who managed to step on his feet every other minute.

"Moony will have sore feet in the morning."

Harry turned around to see that Sirius had come up to them.

"Shouldn't you be out 'flying solo'?" Harry grinned.

"Yeah well that doesn't mean I can't check up on my godson." Sirius grinned as he drained a glass of sparkling wine which had a suspiciously different colour than the other glasses with similar content. "Seen Ron and Hermione lately?"

"They're dancing." Replied Harry with a smile.

"Ah," Sirius said. "So no rows or the like?"

"No," Ginny laughed. "Ron seems to be trying very hard not to mess up."

"Don't we all." Sirius laughed his bark like laugh.

They returned to the dance floor and time passed quickly so they were quite surprised when the music suddenly stopped and a large transparent clock materialised in the air and floated over their heads.

Soon everyone was counting down to midnight and as the clock struck twelve, they all drew their wands and fired multicoloured sparks into the air.

With a grin Harry drew his own wand too and sent off a shower of red and gold sparks as couples all around them turned to kiss.

Harry blinked and looked at Ginny who smiled at him. He gulped.

Her lips looked very inviting…

POP

POP POP

POP POP POP POP

All around them wizards had disappeared and pink frogs appeared in their place. Their dates sported little golden crowns on their heads and a bluish skin tone.

"JAMES, SIRIUS, REMUS!!!!"

"FRED AND GEORGE WEASLEY!!!"

"I guess it was a good idea to stay away from the punch!" Ginny exclaimed, covering her mouth with a hand and by doing so blocking Harry's view of her lips.

He looked up to see his furious grandma search through the crowd for his father and his friends – as an equally furious Mrs. Weasley searched for the twins.

A beautiful brunette witch picked up a frog and kissed it soundly and Charlie popped up in it's place.

"Err… yeah…" Harry replied. "Thank Merlin we stayed away." Though secretly, he was wishing very much that he had indeed had some of the punch. Then he would have gotten a kiss…

As the number of frogs decreased and wizards returned to their normal form, a band started playing an assortment of pop songs. The elderly guests retired to the living room along with the senior Potters as "If I had a Niffler…" blared through the hall.

They danced for a while but the room temperature rose steadily and Harry was starting to feel tipsy from the sparkling wine. Ginny seemed to be as well and they laughed a lot.

Soon, Ginny suggested they go outside.

Harry led her around the house, away from the party and into the garden. They sat on a bench in the garden and stared at the starry sky. Harry took a chance as they sat down and put his arm around Ginny's shoulders.

To his surprise, she leaned down and rested her head on his shoulder. His eyes widened. He was certain that she could hear his galloping heart.

However, if she could, she did not show it. Instead, she sighed comfortably and turned slightly as she put her arm on Harry's other shoulder.

Holding his breath, he rested his head on top of hers as all of his senses seemed to be working on overdrive. It felt like the nerves in his body had regrouped only to the areas where she touched. Her rosy scent washed over him again and he turned his nose into the top of her head. Without even considering how she might react, he planted a kiss on her hair.

His stomach disappeared when she pulled away. _STUPID! You really blew it now!_

"Harry…" she began but faltered.

"I'm sorry," he blurted out in a desperate attempt to return everything to the way it was moments ago.

She shook her head.

"Don't be… it's just that…" She took a deep breath, obviously steeling herself.

Harry nervously ran a hand through his hair.

"Look, I really like you." She continued somewhat harshly. Harry's stomach suddenly returned and did flip flops in spite of her tone. "And, well, if you're not serious then I won't put myself through this."

"I am serious!" he exclaimed in surprised. He was, though.

"Are you sure?" she crossed her arms and frowned at him. "Because if you are, I expect you to act like it. I've liked you since… well… forever… and if you're just after some fun, then I'd rather pass and start to get over it."

"No!" he blurted then continued softly: "I mean… don't get over it. I really like you. Look, there's no way I'd date my best friend's little sister if I wasn't very serious about it."

She softened visibly and took his hand. "Are you sure?"

"I'm sure." He smiled and squeezed her hand gently.

She smiled back and Harry was not sure what to say.

_Tell her she's beautiful… NO! That would sound really thick. _

_Comment on the stars… Come on! Do we want to sound like Cornelius?_

_Ok then, how about some family history on the garden? Er… do we know any family history on the garden?_

_We have a point…_

If Ginny had been having similar thoughts, hers had been more productive.

"Well then, if you mean that, would you like to be my boyfriend then?"

Harry blinked at her. _Did she just say what we think? We're fairly sure she did._

"That… that would be a.. awesome…" he stuttered disbelievingly.

Ginny then smiled at him and scooted closer again. At first, he thought she was resuming the cuddly position they had had before but then she moved even closer and he realised what she was doing.

A surge of panic and anticipation went through him. His mind went completely blank and the only thing he could think of doing was trying to swallow any excess saliva before it was too late. Then he moved forward to meet her.

And then she softly pressed her lips to his and they were so wonderfully soft and warm and he felt at home. He snaked his armed around her waist and drew her closer, feeling his glasses go askew as he did so – and he could not care less.

She put her arms around his neck and played with the hair at the back of his head. He could not hold it back any longer. A large grin spread across his face, against her lips.

Apparently, it was contagious because she grinned too and buried her head in his shoulder.

Harry's head swam and he wondered briefly if it was because of the wine or because of the kiss.

"We should go back inside…" she said, her voice muffled against his dress robes.

"Yeah… I guess…" he agreed, though he could have stayed like that for eternity. It was rather cold though…

It felt even colder when Ginny pulled back and he took her hand when they walked back towards the house.

* * *

Lily laughed as James spun her around then pulled her close as the song ended. He buried his face in her neck and kissed the soft skin there. She, in return, put a hand on his chesy and one in his hair and kissed his jawline.

_Merlin, that's still as wonderful as it was the first time!_

He sighed contentedly. Everything was perfect.

His parents were here, Sirius was free and Harry was alright. It could not be much better.

Off to the left of the room, he spotted Harry's friends who appeared to be arguing.

The girl was telling off the boy who seemed to be defending himself. With a sob, the girl turned and ran off. The boy's shoulders sagged. They reminded James a lot of himself and Lily before they started dating.

"I'll talk to her." Lily sighed and pulled away from him. James made to talk to the boy but he went to the entrance hall and flooed away.

So instead James went to the buffet to have a sandwich. He hoped Harry's friends would figure it out with time. At least they were friends so that could work in their favour.

James watched Remus as he danced with his date. He was happy for his friend. Remus… good, old, bookish Remus who was more Marauder than most people knew. Sure, the girl was much younger than Remus but if she loved him as he was then everything else did not matter. And Remus really deserved to have someone.

As he scanned the crowd, James wondered where Harry had gone off to. He got his answer soon after when Harry and Ginny entered the hall hand in hand.

James chuckled. Harry's hair was completely messed up. James supposed his own hair looked exactly the same. As the teenagers walked over to him, he noticed that Harry tried and failed to hide a stupid grin. James had a fairly good idea of what had happened.

"Hi Dad." Harry greeted. "Have you seen Ron and Hermione?"

"Yeah, they had a… err… slight disagreement. Ron went home. Your mum went to talk to Hermione but I don't know where she is."

"I wish they'd just go and shag in a broom closet." Ginny exclaimed.

Harry choked on the sandwich he had just taken a bite off and stared at her with wide eyes as he coughed and spluttered.

"I'm sure they'll figure it out eventually." James chuckled.

"Let's go and dance." Ginny urged once Harry had stopped coughing. And with that she hauled him off.

Harry looked back at James and grinned. James grinned back.

He watched them dance for a little while until Lily returned.

"She's staying for the night. I set her up in a guest room." Lily said.

"So did you manage to fix it?" he asked.

"No, but I did manage to get her to calm down. She wouldn't tell me what the argument was about. She's sleeping now." Lily replied.

"Alright… You know, they remind me of us." He pulled her close.

"I know… I told her about that too. She agreed that guys are prats." Lily smiled.

"But you like this prat." James smiled and started swaying them to the music.

Out of the corner of his eye he saw Sirius slip out from behind a curtain followed by a witch. They looked very cuddly as they walked out of the room and continued upstairs.

James turned his attention back to his wife and kissed his away from her ear to her lips. Lily ran her hands through his hair again.

"Mmm," he whispered. "how about we go and… you know… sleep?"

She smiled at him and raised her eyebrows. Then she took his hand and hauled him towards the stairs. James grinned.


	20. Mornings and Surprises

**A/N Wow, I can't believe I'm on Chapter 20! ****Woohoo! I hope you enjoy! - Oh, and I considered leaving the ending of the chapter as a spoiler – but I am nice so I didn't :-)**

Chapter 20: Mornings and surprises

James groggily rubbed his eyes and gazed around the blurry room. He had a light headache. Lily was sleeping with her head on his chest and he could feel her breaths on his skin. Slowly, he reached for his glasses on the nightstand. Putting them on, he admired the contrast between her red hair and her pale skin. James reached out and brushed a few strands of hair off her shoulder before engaging in his favourite morning ritual - an opportunity which he did not have very often because Lily usually woke before he did.

He counted freckles.

The wonder of Lily's freckles was that they grew more or less visible depending on how much sun she had been exposed to. Today, he counted 37 on her shoulder. That wasn't much but then again, it was in the middle of winter.

Gently, so as to not wake her up, James rolled her off him and extracted his arm from under her.

Grabbing his night robes off the floor, he pulled them over his head, knocking his glasses askew. Stifling a yawn, he stretched and ruffled the back of his hair. Then he padded across the soft carpet and down the hall to the bathroom.

The bathroom door opened before James reached it and Sirius came out, wearing just a pair of boxers.

"Morning, Prongs." He greeted.

"Morning, Pad – foot" James yawned.

Sirius grinned. "There's Pepper-up Potion on the edge of the sink."

"Thanks mate." James opened the door and entered the bathroom.

"Hey James?" Sirius said when James was just about to close the door. James looked at him questioningly. "We need to discuss the prank last night..."

"I know..." James nodded tiredly and sighed. "Let's discuss it at the meeting tonight though. I'm too tired to think right now."

"Oh yeah – go get your potion!" Sirius grinned. "I'm going to head down to the kitchen and see if I can dig up some breakfast."

"I'll join you if you wait. I'm worried you'll take the kitchen apart if you start cooking breakfast alone." James grinned and shut the door before his friend could reply.

* * *

Harry yawned as he pulled a random set of robes over his head. It had been 4 o'clock in the morning when he had said goodbye to Ginny and she had flooed home. He grinned to himself as he remembered the fact that he actually had a girlfriend. 

Harry continued to marvel at this fact as he made his way downstairs to the kitchen.

Once there, he found his father and Sirius cooking breakfast and dancing around to the WWN.

"A few more midgets and we would be naked..." James sang loudly along with the radio as he turned over the bacon.

Sirius immediately cracked up.

"Prongs..." he laughed. "That's not what they're singing – It's _A few more inches and we wouldn't made it_"

"Oh..." James grinned sheepishly. "Well... I think my version is better!"

"Yeah? Will you please elaborate on why you would be naked with the midgets, then?" Sirius raised an eyebrow and tried to keep a straight face.

James grimaced. "Not really, no."

"I don't think I want to know..." said Harry as he left his observation spot in the doorway and entered the kitchen.

"Oh, good morning, Harry." James greeted and levitated a plate full of eggs, bacon, and sausages in front of Harry. The plate landed so roughly that a few of the sausages rolled off.

"By the way..." he lowered his voice dramatically. "There's a Marauders' meeting tonight. When we start excusing ourselves, you do the same. Make sure no-one gets suspecious though..."

Harry nodded, signalling that he understood the message. With a grin, James ruffled Harry's hair before he turned back to the stove.

Harry was trying to flatten his hair a bit when Hermione walked in. Her hair was bushier than he had seen it in a long time. He actually thought she had outgrown that... Her eyes looked swollen as well. She was wearing robes that were a bit too big and she hugged a stack of books to her chest.

"Good morning!" she said in a rather fake, cheerful voice.

"Mr. Potter, I found these," she indicated the books. "in my room and they look awfully interesting. Is there any chance that I may borrow them?"

"Certainly," James shrugged. "I didn't even know they were there..."

"Thank you..." she sat down next to Harry and smiled in a strange way that looked almost painful. "So, did you have a good evening?"

"Yeah," Harry could not help the grin that spread across his face as the thought made him feel warm all over. "Ginny... well... er... we got together..."

"Oh! That's..:" Hermione began.

"Really?" Sirius interrupted with a grin as he sat down on the chair on Harry's other side. "Why didn't I know?"

"Well, you would have known if you hadn't been so busy playing hide and seek behind the curtains, you old dog." Said James.

"You KNEW?" Harry exclained and drowned out Sirius' replies to James' comment.

James shrugged. "Well, I had an idea, yeah..."

"Well," Sirius clapped his hands together. "this needs celebrating!" And with a strange jerky swish of his wand, he conjured a flag on a pole, which he placed in front of Harry's plate.

The flag had a pink and a blue heart on it.

"_SIRIUS!"_ Harry blushed and hurriedly vanished the offending flag.

"Harry!" Hermione gasped. "You know we're not supposed to do magic out of school! You'll get expelled now!"

"No I won't." He shrugged, then upon noticing that Hermione's eyes suddenly looked rather moist, he added. "The Ministry can't tell here."

She gaped and looked at James, who simply shrugged.

"It _IS_ a rather stupid rule."

* * *

Harry winced as he entered the library rather noisily. He was lucky that the library of Potter Manor did not have a librarian. 

"SCHHH!"

Harry blinked. They did not have a librarian, did they?

"Honestly, Harry, I believe it takes an IQ of about 10 to open a door. Can it be that much harder to do it quietly?"

Letting out a sigh of relief as he recognized the voice, he turned and saw Hermione at a table, hunched over an ancient looking book. He walked over to her and grabbed her wrist gently.

"You're coming with me."

"Wha..." Hermione gaped as he pulled her up.

"Look, I know you're feeling sad about whatever happened last night but attacking my library won't help one bit." Harry grinned as he dragged her out of the door. "So we're going for a walk."

"_Harry!_ That is a very rare..."

"It's been there for a long time - probably centuries – it'll still be there next time you visit." He said as they descended the stairs and he grabbed their cloaks from the cloak rack.

"It's strange seeing you in all these elaborate daily robes." Hermione commented as they pulled on their cloaks. Apparently she had decided to humour him.

"It's great, isn't it?" he grinned as he pushed the door open. "No more of Uncle Vernon's old socks."

"I'm truly happy for you, Harry." She smiled as they walked outside. Harry felt that this smile was much more genuine than the ones he had witnessed earlier today.

"So... what happened with Ron?" Harry asked and glanced at Hermione. She frowned.

"Ron is – and will always be – a prat" she said coldly.

"Well... we all know that," Harry grinned. "But that's part of who he is..."

"I really don't want to talk about it, Harry." Hermione sighed.

He did not press the subject and they walked in silence for a while.

That is, until a large pile of snow fell on them from out of nowhere.

"Argh!" Harry spluttered as he got up and out of the snow, closely followed by Hermione.

Nearby three war-painted Marauders were laughing so hard they had trouble standing.

"Oh they'll regret that!" he exclaimed and quickly shaped a snowball and tossed it at them. He hit his father right in the forehead.

Harry laughed.at his father's surprised face but stopped rather abruptly when a snowball was returned by Sirius. Harry ducked in time and the snowball passed over him – and hit Hermione square in the chest.

Playing a bit with his wandless magic, Harry collected a huge blob of snow and banished it right at Sirius – who in return pulled out his wand and with a few waves he had raised a wall out of the snow.

"Bugger!"

Harry turned and blinked at Hermione. Did she just say what he thought she said?

He was immediately punished for his lack of attention as a rather large snowball hit the side of his head. Ugh... snow in the ear is **not** comfortable.

* * *

James exchanged a look with Sirius as he finished his salmon. After performing a series of drying and warming spells on her son, husband and their friends, Lily had taken Hermione home so she could get her things and spend a few more hours with her parents before going back to school tomorrow. 

James checked the plated of the table's other occupants. As always, Sirius was done. Remus still had a bit left and so did Harry.

"James..." his father cleared his throat. "I think it's time..."

James blinked. At first, he thought his father knew about the planned Marauders' meeting but then he realised what he meant and his eyes widened.

"But... Dad... I..."

"You're grown up, James, and I am getting old."

"I..." he caught the look Lily was sending him and sighed. "right then... I don't feel completely sure about how though..."

"Neither did I," his father smiled reassuringly. "-which is why it is important that I retire now and leave you in charge. That way I can help. After all, I have 75 years of experience..."

James nodded numbly. He had not expected this.

Well, he had, as he had always known that one day, he would take over – but he had not thought it would be anytime soon.

"I shall announce this at the next meeting a fortnight from now."

James just nodded and checked the plates again. Seeing that Remus and Harry had finished, he lazily stretched his arms above his head, closing his right hand into a fist and making sure to lower that hand first.

"Well," Remus smiled. "will you please excuse me. I found the most fascinating manuscript in the library - on hinkypunks."

And within a few moments, he was gone.

"So... Sirius, what happened at the ball? Did you get yourself a little girlfriend?" James asked to change the subject.

"Nah... she couldn't handle my good looks." Sirius grinned. "and, well, I didn't really urge her to stay or anything."

"Aren't you getting a bit too old for that?" James wondered.

"Well," Sirius yawned. "Now that you mention it, I think I'll go and have a nap."

And moments later he was gone.

"I should go too," Harry said. "I still need to add 5 more inches to my Potions essay."

"Oh, do you need any help, Sweetie?" Lily asked.

James smiled. She was brilliant at Potions. She could give Snape some serious competition anyday. Actually, James mused, she would be a much better Potions Professor than old Snivellus.

"No thanks," Harry smiled. "It's really just the conclusion and I have a pretty good idea what to write."

* * *

"Now, first – about what happened at the ball:" James began. "We weren't the only ones to add something to the punch." 

"We need to be more aware of the twins if we're pulling off any pranks while they're present." Sirius commented.

"We need to _coordinate_ with the twins." Remus corrected. "We were lucky that our potion didn't conflict with theirs."

"It could have gotten really ugly if they had used a Swelling Solution instead." James sighed. "Mum would have skinned me alive!"

Harry looked from one to the other as they discussed the problem of conflicting pranks.

"So you did put potion in the punch!" he exclaimed. "Howcome I didn't know?"

"Well, that brings us to the second point of this meeting." James smiled and patted Harry's shoulder. "Your practical training will begin once you return to school."

"My...?"

"Practical training, yes. Pranking lessons and such. Moony?"

Remus reached into his pocket and retrieved a piece of parchment which he handed to Harry. It was blank.

Harry knew there was more to it though. "Is there a password?" he asked.

"No, you just tap your wand twice in the lower left corner and once in the upper right one. It recognizes your wand."

"Oh..." he did so – but nothing happened.

"Your lessons and instructions will appear there when it is time. Check it once in a while." Sirius grinned.

* * *

The next day, Harry was halfway into a game of chess with Ron when Ginny entered their compartment and sat down next to him. 

He smiled at her and she smiled back and took his hand.

"Your turn!" Ron said loudly.

"Tower to D5." Harry ordered distractedly. He did not see Ron's move but the next time he looked at the board, he had no towers left.

As Ron announced checkmate, Ginny crawled into Harry's lap and rested against him. Harry's mind started to fog but then the door opened and Hermione's head appeared.

"Hello Harry, Ginny may I speak to you?"

And then Ginny got up and left and the fog in Harry's head evaporated much too soon for his liking. He did not see her again until they were at dinner that evening and then she sat further down the table and they could only exchange smiles.

When he entered the common room she was on the couch, reading a book and he steered towards her.

"Harry, can we go up to the dormitory? I'd like to have a word." Ron said.

With a sigh and a last look at Ginny, Harry changed his course and they walked upstairs.

Once they entered the dormitory, Ron sat on the window sill and looked out the window into the dark. He opened his mouth, then frowned and closed it again.

Harry's patience was rather short at the moment as his mind kept travelling downstairs to Ginny and the couch. "Is this about Hermione?"

Ron nodded. "I blew it..." he sighed. "I finally had a chance – and I blew it."

"I'm sure it's not that bad." Harry offered to cheer Ron up. "What happened?"

"I really tried," he sighed and rested his forehead against the window glass. "But... I think I had too much of that wine. Then some witch came over to talk to us. Apparently she had read that article about the battle and then she started telling Hermione how bright a future she had and how she was a great match for Krum." Ron's fists tightened so hard around the curtain that his knuckles whitened.

"Ouch..." Harry commented sympathetically.

"I suppose you can guess the rest." Ron said bitterly.

Harry sighed and rubbed his forehead. "Look mate, you really need to talk the whole Krum thing through with Hermione."

"We get into rows every time." Ron turned to look at Harry.

Harry had rarely seen his friend look this dejected.

"Well, if you want a chance," he said, sounding a bit too strict for his own liking, "then you'd better settle the matter – or bloody well learn to ignore it. And personally I think your chances of success are best with the first option."

"But she storms off when I try!"

Harry grinned. "Are you asking me to lock you up somewhere together?"

Ron's eyes widened. "She'd bloody kill me instead then..."

* * *

After a week, Harry was seriously considering applying some sort of drastic measures to the situation of his friends. As much as he liked his friends and wanted them to sort this out, it was very irritating that each time he was just about to drag Ginny off for a bit of private time, then either Ron or Hermione appeared, wishing to talk to one of them. As time passed, Harry found it increasingly difficult not to tell them to bugger off. 

And so, he was very pleasantly surprised when he woke up due to the fact that his mattress shifted in an unfamiliar way.

He could not see anything – partly due to the fact that the dormitory was dark – and partly due to the fact that his glasses were on the bedside table.

"Wha...?" he yawned.

"Schh..." Came a soft whisper and an equally soft hand brushed his shoulder. A faint, but highly familiar smell of roses washed over him and he was suddenly very awake.

"Ginny??" he gasped and sat up quickly.

"Schh!" she repeated in a whisper. "Don't get up."

And with that, she grabbed his covers and climbed under them, snuggled into a pillow and smiled up at him.

Gathering his remaining wits, he laid back down next to her, supporting himself on his elbow.

"What are you doing here?" he whispered with a grin.

"I missed you." She smiled. "We really need to do something about Ron and Hermione. I'm going crazy listening to analysises of my brother's behaviour and writing lists of pros and cons."

"Yeah... me too..:" Harry agreed – though giving Ron advice was nowhere near that organized. He felt unsure of what to do with his free hand. He rested it on the mattress. "I offered to lock them in together."

"That would be great!" Ginny grinned. "We could put a charm on the door so it would not open until they snogged."

Harry chuckled.

"Well, if they were together and sneaked off to snog in a broom closet. Imagine all the time we'd have to ourselves..:" Ginny mused and wormed a bit closer to him, placing a bare foot on top of his.

"To do things like... sneak off and snog in a different broom closet?" Harry grinned and felt lucky that the drapes around his bed were drawn.

"Mmm hmm..." Ginny smiled and he pulled her closer.

As he did so, her pyjamas parted beneath his hands and the fluffy feel of flannel was suddenly replaced by soft, warm skin.

Ginny responded to the new contact by pressing her lips to his.

"You should get back to your dormitory," Harry gasped as they broke apart for air. As much as it pained him, he did not want Ginny to get in trouble. "if we're caught..."

Ginny grinned mischieviously. "I'll... risk... it..." she said in-between kisses and rolled them over so she was on top of him.

Harry ran his hand slowly up and down her back. "You're nuts, you know that?" he laughed. "What about Ron?"

"Don't think of Ron..." Ginny smiled and half rolled off him so she could use his chest as a pillow. "think of me..."

"Well, I hope you know that I prefer that..." he replied and put his arm around her shoulder.

They stayed like that for a while, snuggling in comfortable silence. After some time, Harry realised that Ginny's breathing had slowed to the deep, relaxed rhythm of sleep.

Sleepily, he smiled to himself. For some reason, he felt very proud that she felt safe and relaxed enough in his arms to make her fall asleep.

She was really soft, he observed. Not that that was a bad thing. Oh no, not at all!

He really should wake her up so she could go back to her dormitory.

"_Are you nuts? This is nice!"_ Part of his mind objected.

"_Yeah, but if we're caught..."_

"_We'll wake her – just a few more minutes.."_

* * *

"Harry?" 

Harry blinked, his eyes only seeing red. Not that that was unusual for a resident of Gryffindor Tower, but this was a different shade of red.

_Oh bugger!_

"Shit!"

The mass of red moved and Harry felt a surge of panic. He grabbed Ginny's arm and shook his head. Pressing a finger to his lips, he reached under his pillow and pulled out a large piece of silvery fabric. He always kept the Invisibility Cloak there.

"OY! HARRY! WAKE UP!"

Quickly, he pushed off his covers, rolled on top of Ginny and covered them both with the cloak, praying to anything that would listen that their feet were covered too. Just then, the curtains of the bed moved aside and Ron poked his head in.

"Do I have to..."

Ron paused and stared at the apparently empty bed, his expression changing from surprise to a frown.

Then he muttered something they could not understand – and left.

Leaving the curtains open.

Harry was about to hang his head as he held back a sigh, but then he realised where on Ginny he would have put his head if he did so. Blushing bright red, he kept his head up.

Neville and Seamus were still in the room. To Harry's horror, Seamus was only wearing underpants when he got out of bed. Harry moved his arm into a rather uncomfortable position which served the purpose of blocking Ginny's view.

He suddenly felt very possessive of her and did not want her to look at Seamus.

Neville took an eternity to finish. Apparently, he could not find his Transfiguration book. Then, when he finally found it, he tripped on his robes and hit his leg on the bed. Trying to heal the bruise, he accidentally turned the entire left side of his body green. **Finally**, he left to see Madam Pomfrey.

The door had barely closed behind Neville when Harry pulled off the cloak with a groan.

"Neville seems to be having a bad day." Ginny smiled.

"I don't think I'll be able to hold a quill for days!" Harry grimaced as he flexed his fingers and elbow.

"BLOODY HELL!" Ginny exclaimed, sounding a bit too much like her brother for Harry's liking. "Classes start in 10 minutes!"

Harry flew out of bed. "Oh no!"

Flinging open his trunk, he grabbed the topmost robes and pulled them on, while Ginny muttered a spell and her hair zoomed neatly into place. She muttered a different spell and the amazingly wonderful, light scent of roses which he had come to love so much, washed over him again.

"Do you have any school robes, which are too small?"

"Er... what?" he blinked.

"Well, I have no time to go to my own dorm!" she threw her hands to the side in a gesture of hopelessness.

"Oh... right..:" running a hand through his hair, he rummaged through his trunk, throwing discarded items onto the floor.

"Here," he pulled out a set of old school robes and the green Weasley sweater he got in fourth year. It was way too small for him by now, but when Ginny emerged from the bathroom moments later, he though it fitted her perfectly. He did not have any trousers her size, so she kept her pyjamas bottoms on underneath the robes.

Then... they ran.

When they reached the hall where they needed to part ways, Ginny quickly pressed her lips to his before she disappeared around a corner.

As Harry sped towards the Transfiguration classroom, he could not help but feel that even though it had been chaotic, it had been a rather nice morning.

* * *

"James?" 

James looked up from the text he was currently writing – Harry's first practical lesson.

He quickly tapped the paper and the writing disappeared. "Yes, Dear?"

Lily smiled at him warmly and wrapped her arms around his neck from behind as she bent down to kiss his neck. "Mmm, I have some news for you." She whispered.

"Oh?" he grinned and wrapped his arms around her neck behind him.

"Uh huh..." he could feel her smile against his skin. "Well... It's something I've told you before... but it's still news..."

"Care to share it?" he closed his eyes as he felt his wife playing with his hair.

"Mmm – care to take a guess?"

"No..:" he opened his eyes again. "Come on, what is it??"

"Alright... James... I'm pregnant."


	21. Siblings

**A/N Hi everyone! I'm SO sorry I haven't been able to post until now. Please don't think I'm abandoning the story - I'm NOT. This chapter has been all done in my mind for a while - I just haven't had time to write it down and type it in. Thing is, I do this Viking Living history thing and all the events are happening during these months, so most of the time I don't have access to a computer (or even paper). And when I'm home, I need to work on my clothing for the events because they're homemade. It also means I won't be able to watch the OOTP movie or read Deathly Hallows until August! So if you feel the need, you can take that as my punishment for not being able to update!**

**All in all, I can't really promise regular updates until I'm done with the events. I WILL update eventually though - and no, eventually doesn't mean in 2 years - it means at the very worst, it will be at the end of summer.**

Chapter 21: Siblings

He had misheard her. He was sure of it.

James blinked and pressed his hands over his ears and released them again.

Hmm, his ears seemed to be working well enough.

"Could you repeat that, please?" he finally asked an amused looking Lily. "I think I misheard you..."

Lily laughed at her husband's antics.

"I said I'm pregnant." She smiled.

James stared at his wife. "Really?"

She nodded.

He swallowed. "Are you sure?"

Lily rolled her eyes. "No, James, I'm just guessing."

"Oh..." he frowned.

She laughed and whacked him teasingly over the back of the head. "Of course I'm sure, you dolt!"

James did not reply. Instead, without really realizing what he had just been told, he got up and pulled her into a tight hug.

Sometimes, he still reeled from the fact that she had finally agreed to go out with him after so many failed attempts – and she had married him... and now the war was over and they had Harry and...

Wait...

And then realisation hit him like the Knight Bus.

What did she just say?

He pulled back and blinked at her. "Did you just say you're pregnant?"

"Merlin, you're thick." Lily laughed and grinned widely.

Now that the news had finally reached his brain, James felt a surge of joy greater than he could contain. He let out a whoop and picked Lily up, spun her around a few times, put her down and ran out the door.

"PADFOOT! MOONY!"

He barged into Remus' room to find his two friends playing exploding snap on the floor.

"I'm going to be a father!!!!"

Sirius blinked up at him from the floor. "Err... not to burst your bubble, mate, but you already are... remember Harry?"

"I mean, AGAIN!!!"

"You're pregnant?" Sirius jumped up.

"YES! I'M PREGNANT!" James bounced and hugged his friend.

In the doorway, Lily rolled her eyes once again and rested a hand on her stomach.

"I'm so sorry, Little One," she sighed dramatically. "Let's hope you take after me."

"Congratulations." Remus smiled and hugged her as his two friends started doing some dance around the room that looked like a mix of a conga line and a war dance.

* * *

_Bugger... bugger, bugger, bugger _

Harry sped through the nearly empty hallways towards the Transfiguration classroom.

Upon reaching his destination, he realised that the door was closed.

With a sigh, he straightened his robes and entered the classroom.

"Sorry I'm late, Professor." He apologised and slid into his seat next to Ron.

"5 points from Gryffindor, Mr. Potter. Perhaps you should transfigure yourself into an alarm clock?" Professor McGonagall suggested.

"Yes, Professor." Harry bowed his head. He did not suppose it would help him any if he tried to delive some excuse.

"Where were you?" Ron whispered as Harry pulled out his books.

"Nothing important." He replied.

"Off snogging Ginny then?"

Harry did not reply, partly because McGonagall was continuing the lesson and partly because he was not sure what to say.

However, he could not help but feel that even though the morning had been utterly chaotic, it had been the best morning he had had in a long time.

As they all bent over their books to read chapter 19 in A Guide to Advanced Transfiguration, Harry found that he could not concentrate at all.

* * *

"Snape is SUCH a git!" Ginny exclaimed and slammed her books onto the table as she sat down for lunch opposite Harry. 

"I know," Harry scowled. "What did he do now?"

"Well, obviously, I didn't make it to class in time – and the bastard gave me detention!"

Harry shrugged and felt his face go red as Ron and Seamus exchanged an amused look at Ginny's revelation. "That's kinda to be expected from him."

"Every Saturday for the next two months!"

"WHAT!"

"Greasy git probably only did that to ruin any potential dates for us..." she seethed.

"Never mind about Snape, I'm more interested in the fact that you both were late for class." Seamus raised an eyebrow teasingly. "Surely that is not a coinci..."

"Just what are you implying, Finnigan?" Ron interrupted. "That's my little sister you're talking about!"

"I'm only a year younger than you are, Ron." Ginny said and glared at her brother. "And it's none of your business what happens between me and Harry. NEITHER of you."

She shot a pointed glare at Seamus too, then smiled mischieviously and leaned across the table towards Harry. "We'll just have to schedule a bit more... inventively."

Then she quickly gathered her things and left, leaving a blushing Harry with a curious Seamus and a frowning Ron.

* * *

_Dear Marauder-In-Training,_

_Messr. Prongs passes his love and would like to point out that Snape is a greasy bastard and that sadly, the mentioned behaviour was to be expected._

_Messr. Padfoot would like to add that that does not mean that the Big Bat doesn't deserve revenge._

_Messr. Moony informs that this is indeed relevant to this lesson._

_Alright, enough of that. Harry, Prongs here._

_First of all, to obtain a certain amount of casualness there is a Trick. The Trick in itself is simple but it does require some practice to perfect. However, you will find that the Trick works very quickly. And the witches love it. Of course, that might not be too important for you as it seems you have already secured your own blooming rose. Once again, I must compliment you on that._

_Now, what is the infamous Trick, you ask?_

_You Lean. _

_It is that simple._

_Don't slouch, Lean._

_Practice that until next lesson._

_Taking into consideration your marvellous genes and your previous record of troublemaking, we, the Masters of Mischief, have agreed that it is time for your first Marauding._

_Your assignment is as follows:_

_Your victim is, as we find that highly relevant to the current situation, Snivellus._

_You are to pull a prank of your own choice on the victim __without getting caught._

_Documentation in form of photographs or the like is expected to prove your completion of the assignment._

_Most likely, you will find these spells helpf--: _Here, the ink had smudged slightly.

_The Delaying Charm: Cunctorio_

_The Alteration Spell: Mutatio_

_The Colouring Charm: Bleovise_

_We curiously await your documentation._

_Moony, Padfoot and Prongs._

_PS. Harry, your Mum and I need to have a chat with you. Please floo home when you have time._

Harry grinned as he finished the letter and tapped the parchment with his wand. It immediately turned blank. He fantasised for a while about what sort of prank he could pull on Snape. He really wanted to impress his dad by doing something cool. Then he thought about what the letter has said about Mum and Dad wanting to talk to him.

Ginny was serving her first detention with Snape and even though it was only afternoon, he knew Snape would not let her go until late that evening.

Harry got up from his bed, where he had been reading the letter, and went to his trunk where he found a bag of floo powder. Then he went downstairs and used the Common Room's fireplace to floo home.

Moments later, a very sooty and dissheveled Harry tumbled onto the hearth in the entrance hall of Potter Manor with a loud thud.

He heard a giggle as he sat spluttering on the floor and wiped his face with his hands.

Harry looked up and saw his mum smiling at him from the doorway that led towards the kitchen. He grinned sheepishly and got to his feet. Quickly, he ran the distance between them and hugged her tightly.

"Harry!" she shrieked and jumped back as the colour of his black school robes seemed to come off onto her light yellow ones. Harry laughed.

A flick of Lily's wand later, the soot was cleaned off her robes and with another, Harry was clean too.

"Mu-um..:" Harry mock whined. "For a moment there, it looked like I had a tan."

"Yes, well, she kissed his forehead. "I see that you get your flooing skills from me."

"Yeah, should I thank you?" Harry laughed as his mother guided him towards the kitchen. "So, you wanted to talk to me?"

"Yes, " Lily smiled and twisted her long red hair into a knot and fastened it with her wand. "but let's wait for your father, hmm? He's away at a meeting, he'll be back for dinner."

"A meeting?" Harry questioned.

"Yes, now that he's starting to take over the family business, he needs to do stuff like that."

"Oh..." Harry said and then he realised something. "Err... what IS the family business?"

"Magical Table-ware and cooking pots since 1286." A hoarse voice said proudly.

Harry spun around in the direction of the voice and saw a painting of an ancient looking man with rather wild, long hair and an orange wizard's hat. Harry made a mental note never to let his hair grow long as it obviously did nothing to tame the unrulyness of the Potter hair, which Harry suspected had something to do with magic.

"At first, the business produced ceramics only." Lily continued and gently pulled him away from the painting.

"Where did you think your surname came from, Lad?" the painting shouted after them.

"Be nice, Hugo!" Lily warned and then added in a gentler voice.: "Of course it has been expanded with time to sell goblets, cauldrons and whatnot too."

"So... when I get older, I have to take over after Dad?" Harry frowned. Selling clay pots and goblets was not something he had considered as a future.

"Not necessarily." Lily smiled as they sat down by the kitchen table and she summoned a plate of cookies. "Not if you don't want to. James is just taking over now and since we had you at a young age and magical people tend to get very old, it might be your children or grandchildren taking over."

"Oh..." Harry said and took a cookie.

"Have you thought about what you want to do after school?"

"I'm not sure." Harry admitted. "I wanted to be an Auror but I don't anymore. I'm tired of fighting dark wizards. I just want a normal life."

Lily looked at him for a while and Harry could tell that she was going things over in her mind.

"How about Quidditch?" she finally asked.

"What?" Harry blinked. His MUM wanted to play quidditch?

"For work I mean," she laughed."Merlin, you're as thick as your father. I meant, have you considered trying out for professional Quidditch?"

Harry felt a jolt to his stomach. He had daydreamed about it, of course (who didn't?), but he had never seriously considered Quidditch as a career option.

"There's also the possibility of the Department of Magical Games and Sports." Lily continued. "If you'd like to stay on the ground..."

They talked for a few hours and then they began to prepare dinner together.

* * *

James was exhausted when he apparated home. Nevertheless, he grinned widely when as soon as he materialised he was met by the wonderful scent of cooking food. 

_Chicken Curry, mmmm_.

"Lily?" he called as he walked towards the kitchen.

"James!" Lily came running from the kitchen and met him halfway through the dining room. "Harry's here. Your parents are staying away so we can get to talk to him."

"Right..:" James frowned. He was worried about how Harry would react.

"Hi Dad!" Harry appeared in the doorway.

James immediately smiled and greeted his son.

Harry looked from his father to his mother. "So... what did you walt to talk about?"

James cleared his throat. "Let's eat first. I'm starving and it smells great."

He patted Harry's shoulder as he walked past him and into the kitchen.

* * *

"Well," said James after the plates were cleared. "Harry, your Mum and I have something to tell you." 

He exchanged a glance with Lily.

"It's good news." Lily added with a smile.

James smiled and took her hand. "Harry, you're going to be a big brother. We're having a baby."

An awkward silence filled the room as Harry stared at them blankly.

"What?" he finally said in a small voice.

"Harry, that's a good thing!" James said slightly desperately as he watched his son's face fall.

"How is that a good thing?" Harry snapped.

"Well..." James was just about to list the joys of bringing a child into the world when he was interrupted.

"I CAN'T BELIEVE YOU! YOU'VE ONLY BEEN HERE A FEW MONTHS!" Harry yelled as he stood from the table.

"Harry..." Lily began.

"NO! YOU STAY HERE AND HAVE FUN! I'LL JUST GO BACK TO HOGWARTS AND PRETEND I DON'T EXIST! MERLIN KNOWS I'M GOOD AT THAT! I HAD PLENTY OF PRACTICE WHEN I WAS LITTLE!!!" Harry yelled and headed towards the door, as the kitchen window shattered.

"NO!" James thundered and with a wave of his hand, the door swung shut in front of Harry. "You will stay here and listen."

"LIKE HELL I WILL!" Harry screamed and waved his own hand and the door burst open and he stormed out and slammed the door behind him.

"HARRY! COME BACK HERE!" James yelled and went after him. But when he reached the entrance hall, he only saw the green flames turn back to yellow.

He sighed and ran a hand through his hair as he felt Lily's arms make their way around his waist.

"That went well..." he said sarcastically as he felt Lily rest her head between his shoulder blades.

He turned around and hugged her.

"Maybe I should go after him..." Lily sniffed and James noticed that she had tears in her eyes.

He shook his head and pulled her closer. "No, I think he needs some time to brood."

* * *

"Harry! Where have you been? I've..." 

"Not now, Hermione." Harry interrupted as he got up off the floor of the Gryffindor Common Room and headed up the stairs.

Once in the dormitory, he threw himself on his bed and stared moodily at his magical alarm clock.

Then, as if everything was the clock's fault, he grabbed it and hurled it across the room.

"Whoa! Trying to kill me!"

Harry turned and glared at Ron, whose head the clock had missed by inches.

Apparently, that did not scare Ron off. "So... what did that poor, defenseless clock do to you?"

"Leave me alone."

"Oh come on, what put you in such a foul mood?"

"Leave me alone." Ok, Ron was starting to annoy him now.

"I'm guessing you have a fight with your parents.."

Harry sighed, realising that his tactic was not working on Ron, who seemed unusually attentive today.

"They're having a baby." He mumbled.

"What?"

"THEY'RE BLOODY WELL HAVING A BABY!"

"Really?" Ron grinned. "That's awesome!"

"No, it's not..."

"Why?"

"Because," Harry exclaimed and jumped out of the bed and began pacing. "They've only been here a few months and I've barely gotten to know them and most of the time I'm here at school and now they're having another kid!"

He kicked his trunk for effect.

"I thought you always wanted a family..." Ron said quietly.

"I do! And I got that at last and now it's snatched away when I've just got a taste of it! Story of my bloody life!" Harry threw his arms into the air in a gesture of hopelessness.

"And how does having a baby sister or brother take away your family?"

Harry stopped pacing and looked at Ron. Ron who had five brothers and a sister. And suddenly, he did not know what to say.

"Thought so," Ron grinned. "So why are you complaining?"


	22. Plots and Dreams

**A/N Finally! Chapter 22! Well, I've been accepted to my dream study at university. Archaeology, woohoo! I start tomorrow, so I wanted this up before the beginning of the semester. I don't really know how time consuming the study will be yet, but I promise I won't abandon the story. I'll try to update as soon as I can! Happy reading! And thanks to everyone who reviewed!**

Chapter 22: Plots and dreams

A thick layer of snow covered the grounds of Hogwarts and most of the students kept inside due to the freezing temperatures. Snowball fights had gotten old weeks ago.

However, by the lake a black mass contrasted rather sharply against the white snow. But upon approaching the mass, one would realise that it was actually a young man with untidy, black hair and a black cloak wrapped so tightly around him that it was difficult to tell where the cloak ended and the hair began.

Harry watched the Giant Squid poke holes up through the ice that was covering the lake, his mind alternating between the baby and Snape. Harry was not sure which thought was the worst to dwell on.

He still felt as strangely robbed of something as he had felt when he first heard the news of the upcoming addition to the family. Yet, talking to Ron had made him calm down a bit and realise that he would not lose his parents.

"_Although... Baby might be cuter... a chance for them to start anew" _An evil voice hissed from a dark corner of his mind.

Harry shook his head to evict the thought. Snape was another problem. The Marauder assignment said to "prank Snivellus without getting caught". However, Harry had racked his brain for prank ideas that would fulfill the assignment. He did not want to be cruel to the Potions Master. He did not want to become what Snape had always accused him of being. On the other hand, Sn... Snape had not been exactly kind to Harry over the years and a little revenge should be acceptable. And Harry desperately wanted to come up with a prank that would make his father proud.

Snivellus... the nickname had already gotten Harry in trouble. During a Potions lesson, Harry had almost replied "Yes, Professor Snivellus?" when he had been addressed, but he had caught his tongue in time so he had instead replied: "Yes, Professor Sn... Ape:"

The whole class had laughed and Harry had spent Friday evening cleaning vials until his hands were wrinkled and Ginny had surely gone to bed.

_Turn his hair some weird colour? ... must have been done before._

_Add something weird to a potion of his? ... nah, must have been done before too._

_No, what you want is something related to his teaching position. That would be original because the Marauders certainly can't have exploited that area. Hmm..._

His thoughts were interrupted by the sound of crisp snow crushing under someone's feet. Harry looked up and smiled.

"Hi." Ginny grinned as she dumped her bookbag in the snow and sat down next to him.

"Hi..." Harry opened his cloak and put it around her too.

"Mmm... Warmin Charm." She smiled and rested her head on his shoulder. "Are you still upset?"

"About the baby-thing? Yeah..."

"You know, I think it's a great opportunity.:."

"How?" Harry blinked.

"Well, think about it... you'll be able to do everything you missed when little. It may not be the same but it's still a pretty good deal. It's a great opportunity for some bonding."

As Harry processed Ginny's comment, a picture filled his mind. A picture of himself and his Dad teaching a tiny boy with hopelessly messy black hair, how to control a toy broomstick.

As the little boy giggled, one of the many cracks in Harry's heart healed.

"Yeah... perhaps you're right...:"

Silence passed between them as Harry let the image stay in his mind. The Giant Squid reached a tentacle up through the hole it had punched in the ice and patted the snow.

"Ron and Hermione still aren't talking." Ginny commented. "Hermione was really upset last night- We talked most of the night."

"We can't go on like this." Harry sighed. And then he remembered what they had discussed before.

He turned his head to look at Ginny and when he did, she was grinning mischieviously at him. Obviously, they were thinking the same thing.

"Should we?" she grinned.

"I think we have to." He laughed.

"Ah, but where?" smirked Ginny.

"Room of Requirement?"

"Too obvious."

"Astronomy Tower?"

"Too big a risk of someone finding them."

"Chamber of Secrets, then?" suggested Harry – and received a glare from Ginny. "... Sorry, bad idea. How about... there's a caved in passage to Hogsmeade? That should provide some privacy..."

"Sounds good... However, I think we should stick to the Room of Requirement. I can think of better purposes for that caved in passage..." Ginny smiled and kissed him on the cheek.

Harry grinned at her comment. "So when would you like to carry out the mission?"

"Well, tomorrow's the game against Ravenclaw..." Ginny mused.

"And I'll most likely be busy the week after..." Harry added. "And no, you don't want to know!"

"After that I have a big assignment in History of Magic coming up." Ginny sighed. "It sems that even without Ron and Hermione's constant disturbances, we still have problems coordinating..."

"So... a fortnight from now? That's Saturday..."

"I have detention with Snape, remember?"

"How about we do it then anyway?" Harry suggested. "I'll lure them there and you can take care of letting them out in the morning?"

"Oh that sounds like you get the easy job!" And I get to deal with a murderous brother and Hermione!" Ginny gasped mock-indignantly. "What a gentleman you are!"

And she punched him in the arm.

"Well, excuse me, mylady, I was under the impression that you would not be available at the time in question." Harry grinned and Leaned back onto his elbows in the snow.

"Oh you!" Ginny laughed and kissed him.

* * *

_Ginny shrieked with laughter as she rolled in the snow, her flaming hair spreading out around her head. Harry laughed as he dropped down next to her and kissed her. When he resurfaced, the white background was not snow anymore, it was sheets and Ginny was holding a baby with messy, black hair. She laughed as the baby mounted a toy broomstick and flew slowly around the room. A huge eye peered through the window and Harry realised it was Giant Ron._

"_My sister!" Giant Ron bellowed and pulled the roof off the building and picked up Harry. _

"_What! No! Let me down!" he struggled against the huge hand. _

"_Harry!" Ginny screamed and the baby started crying. _

"_HARRY!"_

"Harry?"

Harry's eyes flew open and in front of him stood a normal sized Ron with a handful of toast in one hand and his broom in the other.

"Breakfast." Ron grinned and put the toast on Harry's bedside table. His alarm clock said: "Hurry, or you'll be late."

"The match!" Harry gasped and jumped out of bed. As he pulled on his Quidditch robes, he marvelled at the strange dream.

Harry was still chewing on a piece of toast when they arrived at the Quidditch pitch and he had to swallow the last bite quickly as they walked into the pitch.

He shook hands with Cho, who would not meet his eyes, and then they took off, Harry rising above the game to search for the Snitch.

He watched fondly as Ginny caught the Quaffle and sped off towards the Ravenclaw hoops, passing it to Katie Bell. Harry winced as Ginny dodged a bludger by inches – it had made his stomach churn.

Pulling himself together, he went back to scouting for the Snitch. Cho was hovering above the Teachers' Stand and Harry hovered above the Hufflepuff Stand.

Suddenly, Cho dived. Surprised, Harry scanned the area she was diving towards and he found no Snitch.

_Wronski Feint_, he concluded and did not react. Moments later, Cho ascended into place next to him.

"Nice try."

"Not good enough though." She replied. "Listen Harry... I'm sorry that we got an awkward start... maybe... we could start over?"

Harry blinked. There should be an award for bad timing. "Er... I'm going out with Ginny. And I thought you were seeing Cedric..:"

"Well..." Cho smiled sadly. "I am... but... it's been very awkward since he came back. I'm glad, of course, but it's not... like it was before..:"

"I'm sorry it's not working." Harry offered and went back to scouting for the Snitch. "But everything's going great between me and Ginny."

He glanced affectionately towards his girlfriend and then he saw something that made his heart skip. Among the students in the Gryffindor Stand sat his family. His grandparents, his parents, Sirius, and Remus. All wearing Gryffindor colours – though some more faded than others. Harry smiled to himself as he flew a circle above the pitch, searching for gold.

Then, the sun reflected in something at the other end of the pitch and he immediately spend towards it. Not removing his eyes from the elusive little ball, he noticed from the corner of his eye that Cho was following him.

And then he saw a streak of red robes zoom towards the blur that he assumed to be Cho. There was a crash and a series of gasps and yells from the spectators and Harry instinctively looked.

Ginny had crashed right into Cho, presumably to prevent her from getting to the Snitch in time. Cho was cradling a clearly broken arm and Ginny had a nosebleed. Harry looked back towards the Snitch, which, of course, was nowhere to be seen.

Swearing under his breath, he turned around and sped towards Ginny.

"Are you alright?" he yelled.

"I'm fine!" Ginny urged as she wiped her bleeding nose on her sleeve. "Just look for the Snitch, Harry!"

Harry nodded and turned to his Seeking rival. "Cho, you ok?"

"As if you care, Potter!"Cho spat and flew off, wincing as she moved her broken arm to do so.

Harry blinked at the sudden change of tone, but pushed it aside. He really needed to concentrate.

However, it lasted quite a while before he spotted the Snitch again. This time, it was floating almost lazily above the Gryffindor goal hoops.

_Perfect, _Harry decided. That was one of his favourite places to hover while Seeking. Harry chanced a quick glance at Cho. She had not spotted the Snitch. Slowly, as though he was simply switching to a new place to Seek, Harry circled towards the Gryffindor hoops. His insides froze for a second when Ron blocked a shot towards the center hoop and the Quaffle sped right past the Snitch. The golden ball fluttered and moved about 10 inches to the left.

But Harry was close by now and he accelerated the last fifteen yards or so and felt his hand close around the cool metal... and then pain exploded from the left side of his head and he clung to his broom as black spots threatened to completely block his vision. Closing his eyes as a wave of dizziness washed over him, Harry held out the Snitch to signal the end of the game. He vaguely noticed the cheers but they sounded so far away.

Forcing himself to stay conscious, he opened his eyes and descended. As soon as his feet hit the ground, he immediately fell onto the grass and clung to it for dear life as it seemed to spin upside down and round and round as if it was trying to spin him off. Desperately grasping a handful of grass in each hand, he vomited and vaguely wondered why it did not run into his hair when the world was upside down.

* * *

The first thing Harry noticed was that something cold was resting on the side of his head. The second thing he noticed was that he had a splitting headache and that he was going to be sick. Reacting just in time, he half sat up and managed to lean over the side of the bed as he retched. 

He winced at the huge stain he left on the carpet.

"Scourgify." A familiar voice said softly and Harry opened his eyes to find himself in his bedroom. The one at Potter Manor, that is. The stain on the carpet was gone.

"Why am I here?" he croaked and looked to find his mother at his side.

"Schh..." she smiled and handed him a towel and rubbed his back as he wiped his face. "You took a bludger to the head and blacked out. Thank Merlin, you managed to land safely first!"

"So... you took me home instead of bringing me to the Hospital Wing?"

"Yes, of course!" Lily exclaimed and brought out her wand. "Now, stay still... this might hurt a bit. I'm sorry, Sweetie, but it's necessary.."

"Go ahead."

"Sanoram"

Harry felt a strange, tickling feeling in the side of his head. It felt much like when his foot had fallen asleep though he had never felt that way anywhere on his head before.

"Much better." Lily said as she lowered her wand. "Would you like some Headache Potion?"

"That would be nice..."

As Harry drank, his father entered the room quietly.

"I'm starting to wonder whether we should find you some kind of helmet..." James smirked as he closed the door behind him. "There's a suit of armour in my parents' bedroom that might be willing to lend you his, Mr. Blow-to-the-head."

"Nah, that was just bad luck." Harry smiled.

"Are you ok now?" James asked gently as he sat on the edge of the bed. Lily stayed where she was, seated on the other edge of Harry's bed.

Harry knew very well that his father was not referring to his head. He stared at his bedspread which had snitches fluttering about on it.

"Somewhat, yes..."

"Harry... the baby... it won't replace you." His mum said gently and brushed his arm softly. "You're our _son_. We love you. We'll always love you. The baby won't change that."

"I know... it's just..." Harry frowned. "You've only been here a few months and I'm away at school most of the time. I haven't even fully gotten used to having a family... and... I guess I've been waiting for... well... for something to go wrong... because it always does..."

"Oh Harry, I know this must be difficult for you..." James said softly. "And yeah, the arrival of the baby will change things a bit – but that doesn't mean we're going to exclude you."

"It's just... weird... I don't really know what to think anymore..."

"Well, the baby won't arrive until mid-August, so you'll have plenty of time to get used to the idea." Lily smiled.

"And by then, any help you might want to offer would be greatly appreciated – especially if this kid turns out to be anything like you!" James chuckled and Harry could not help but smile.

"So, mid-August huh?"

"Yeah, and that means we'll have time to go somewhere on summer holiday, so if you have any suggestions, please share! –As long as it's something your Mum can manage while she's fat." James grinned and earned a playful slap on the shoulder from Lily.

"Careful James, or I'll start researching magical ways of transferring the little one to you."

"Er... I love you and all, Lily, but that's just weird!"

WMWMMWMWMW

"Mu-um, I'm fine! May I please leave?" Harry complained. "I don't want to miss the victory party! The others have probably been at it for hours already!"

"Harry, you took a bludger to the head!" Lily frowned.

"Well... you fixed that.."

"You could have died!"

"But I didn't! I'm fine!" Harry argued.

"Lily, come on, let the boy go and celebrate with his friends..." James tried.

"He hit his head!" Lily countered. "Rest is more important than parties!"

"He can rest afterwards..."

"There will be more parties..."

"Lily, missing a Quidditch victory party when you're on the team... that's... well... it's so horrible that I can't even find the words to describe it!"

"So dramatic, James!" Lily rolled her eyes. "but fine then... Harry – you promise not to stay up too late? And to make sure you get plenty of rest the next few days?"

Harry nodded, trying not to grin.

"Fine, I'll take you back to Hogwarts. Then, I can discuss some notes with Severus while I'm there."

"Lily, I'd really wish you'd stay away from him..." James began, but Harry interrupted.

"You have study meetings with Sn..Snape?" he asked indignantly. "Snape's up to his neck in Dark Arts!"

"Severus and I have compared notes and theories since third year. He is always nice to me. James, you should treat people the way you want to be treated. And Harry, you should not be so quick to judge people." Lily retorted somewhat strictly and marched out of the room.

"Ouch..." James commented and raised an eyebrow at Harry.

"If you ask me, " Harry said. "she should try and teach Snape that lesson."


	23. Mischief Managed

**A/N Told you I haven't forgotten the story! It's just hard to juggle school and writing. Well, have fun!**

**Chapter 23: Mischief Managed**

Harry took off his glasses and rubbed his exhausted eyes. The stone floor was cold and made his bum sore. The equally cold wall cut into his back no matter which position he tried to sit in. Yet, Harry Potter congratulated himself.

So far, his plan had worked. Everyone thought he had been fast asleep in his dormitory for the past 3 hours just like everyone else. They were wrong on two points: First of all, Harry had not been asleep at all – though he had fought a fierce battle against sleep to stay awake. Secondly, Harry had not been in his dormitory for the past hour and a half.

Instead, he was sitting on the floor in one of the many secret passages of Hogwarts, doing his homework.

Harry snorted at the thought.

The secret passages of Hogwarts were nowhere near ideal for studying. Fortunately, Harry had years of experience from when he used to do his homework during the night at the Dursleys'.

Putting his glasses back on, he checked the time. 02.07 AM.

_Should be good enough._ Harry thought and produced a piece of parchment from inside his right sock.

"I solemnly swear that I'm up to no good." He whispered and tapped the parchment with his glowing wand.

He grinned to himself as he realised that this was the first time he would use this map exactly the way it was intended.

As soon as the many lines had appeared, Harry sought out a certain room in the dungeons: The Potions Classroom.

Then his eyes shifted to another room in the dungeon where he had deduced that the Potions Master had his living quarters. A tiny dot labelled Severus Snape was immobile in exactly the same spot as it always was at night.

Apparently, Snape had gone to bed._ Or whatever else he sleeps in_, Harry smirked. _– a coffin perhaps? _

_Ooooh, store that idea for another time. _Harry blinked. Where had that thought come from?

Shaking his head, he stuffed his homework into his book bag, pulled on the Invisibility Cloak and headed towards the dungeons.

"Alohomora."

The lock clicked and Harry quickly silenced the door before pulling it open. Then, careful to stay clear of the many jars in the dark, he began to cast his spells on the room.

* * *

_Ginny smiled against his lips as he rested his hands on her bum and pulled her tighter. She played with the hair at the back of his head as he kissed her jawline and her neck. She wrapped an arm around his neck and squeezed his upper arm with the other hand as her soft lips brushed the area behind his ear. Harry let out a low moan and let his fingers the way under Ginny's shirt to make contact with the warm skin of her stomach... _

Harry squinted at the bright daylight. Groaning, he turned over and pulled the covers over his head. His groan was echoed from the bed next to his.

"I share your pain, mate." Ron sighed. "Perhaps we should skip Potions and stay here?"

Harry almost agreed. Then, he realised why he was so tired. Of all days, he could not miss Potions today.

"Sounds tempting." He smiled and sat up against his will. "But you know as well as I do that Hermione will just barge in here and drag us out of bed."

"Why don't we have sliding stairs?" Ron groaned. "We'd never get up there if we wanted to wake up Hermione!"

Harry laughed as he found some robes on the floor and checked them for spots.

"Somehow, Ron, I don't think that's why we're not allowed in the Girls' Dormitory..."

"Oh... right..."

* * *

They were a bit late. Harry did not mind as it would have seemed suspecious if they were in time for once.

"Nice to see you decided to join us." Snape sneered as he entered the classroom just behind them. "10 points from Gryffindor for being late."

They quickly sat down. Harry's stomach churned and he could swear that people could tell he was sweating. Hopefully, they would pass it off as being due to running to reach class in time.

Harry made himself busy as Snape flicked his wand and the recipe for the Potion appeared on the blackboard. Harry started copying down the recipe as Ron began chopping mandrake leaves.

"Professor?" Malfoy said innocently and glared at Harry.

"Yes, Mr. Malfoy?"

"I seem to have stirred three times too many clockwise. Is there anything I can do to save my Potion?"

"Yes well, let me see if I can save it for you. Howcome you were so unfortunate?"

"Potter's uncombed hair distracted me, Sir."

"Potter, 10 points from Gryffindor for attending class looking a mess."

Harry rolled his eyes into his notes. Anytime now...

He watched out of the corner of his eye as Snape reached for the wooden spoon which rested on the table beside Malfoy's cauldron.

Harry quickly stared into his notes.

And he heard nothing.

Harry began to panic. _What if it didn't work? What ifI spent all that time planning and the spell failed? What if the spell works on someone else? What if..._

His thoughts were interrupted by Snape clearing his throat.

"Mr. Malfoy, please pick up the spoon and stir your potion two times counter-clockwise and one time clockwise."

Harry almost let out a breath of relief. It worked. Now he just had to worry about appearing innocent.

"Then you add two drops of morning dew and the damage should be undone." Snape instructed and returned to his desk in front of the class.

He put his wand on the desk, sat down and reached for a quill in order to grade some papers.

Harry concentrated on chopping his mandrake leaves. He did so until Ron elbowed him.

"Look at Snape!" Ron sniggered.

Snape was trying to pick up his quill from where it had been resting on the desk, but the quill would not budge.

In front of Harry, Lavender started giggling as Snape started pulling the quill with both hands. Then, Snape seemed to realise that this was a prank and in an attempt to keep his dignity, he gave up and went to get a book from his bookcase instead.

Only, the book, too, was as stuck as if the entire bookcase had been of marble and the books were only chiseled into the front. He let out an exasperated sound and glared at the now laughing class.

"30 points from Gryffindor!" he exclaimed and the class quieted in horror.

Snape went to pick up his wand, but it was stuck to the desk too. The class started laughing again.

"Aaargh!" Snape yelled and tore at his greasy hair. He made to pick up a book from the desk, presumably to throw it at them – he looked like he wanted to do just that! Of course, that book was also stuck.

"POTTER!"

Harry's stomach froze as he looked at the Professor. Then, he felt the familiar feeling of someone trying to read his mind. Quickly, he sealed off the memory of the night and brought the memory of the morning to the front of his mind.

Moments later, Snape stopped poking his mind.

"Potter," he sneered. "50 points from Gryffindor for having an insufferable father. Now, all of you, GET OUT!!!"

* * *

"100 points!" Hermione groaned as they walked towards the Common Room moments later. "And he had no right..."

"It's Snape," Ron commented. "What did you expect him to do? Hand out compliments on the spellwork?"

Harry snorted and noted the fact that his two friends were apparently oblivious to the fact that they were talking right now.

"Of course not!" Hermione retorted. "But he had absolutely no proof. It could have been anyone! It could have been someone not in our class. It could have been..."

"The Marauders..." Ron interrupted. "He's probably right. Fred and George wouldn't bother. Anyway, whoever did that deserves a year's worth of Honeyduke's chocolate. They earned us two hours off..."

"How can you think that!" Hermione screeched. "We lost 100 points AND a lesson!"

"Hey, let's not argue." Harry grinned and walked between them. "Let's just enjoy our free period and then we can work on getting those points back in Charms and Defense."

Hermione huffed and walked off.

* * *

Harry yawned and forced his eyes to stay open. He could not believe it. This was Defense, his best subject and he was having trouble staying awake.

True, they were discussing the basics of the Patronus Charm and almost every ex-DA member looked bored, but still, this was Defense!

Harry gave a relieved sigh as the Professor ended the lesson and dismissed the class.

"Look," Harry told Ron and Hermione as they left class. "I have to talk to Ginny, I'll see you later..."

As he left, he saw Ron and Hermione share an awkward moment, then walk seperate ways.

"Well," Harry told himself. "at least they talked today."

* * *

The next day, the youngest Potter could be seen pulling his girlfriend along by the hand.

When no-one was watching, they ducked behind a tapestry into a secret passage, where they quickly spun around and Harry Leaned against Ginny who put her arms around his waist and rested her back against the wall.

Harry smiled and kissed her passionately.

"Mmm, I had a wonderful dream about you..." he confessed.

"Do I want to know?" Ginny giggled and raised an eyebrow.

Harry chuckled. "Nothing like that..."

"Oh?" Giny pouted cutely. "I dream about you – like that."

She kissed him hard.

"Really?" Harry gasped when they broke apart.

"Really." Ginny said and placed a hand on his chest as they kissed again.

Harry grinned to himself and let his hand slide over her bum and up under the back of her shirt, where it came to rest on the bare skin of the small of her back. His heart warmed when he noticed that she was wearing his old Weasley jumper under her school robes.

He smiled and kissed her neck, just as he had done in the dream. However, this was different. This was real. He could smell Ginny's wonderful, rosy scent and her hair was soft against his fingers, her skin warm and silky against his lips, her whispers sweet in his ear.

"Harry..." Ginny whispered moaningly and Harry lost himself for a moment as he kissed her with passion.

* * *

Quite a while later, they emerged from behind the tapestry, both looking very tousled.

"I guess I'm off for detention, then..." Ginny pouted. "I'd rather stay in there with you though."

"I'm glad." Harry chuckled and kissed her quickly even though they were in the hallway. He just could not help it – especially not when she pouted. It looked so cute.

"Well, I'll take care of my part of the plan, then go and visit Mum and Dad for the evening. You'll let them out in the morning?"

"'course." Ginny beamed.

"See you them." Harry grinned and stole another kiss before she ran off down the hall, skipping girlishly a few times.

* * *

Harry frowned as he reread the letter. Did it sound convincing enough? He chuckled. Good thing Ginny had advised him to send this to Ron and not Hermione.

Hermione would have seen right through it.

He tied the letter around Hedwig's leg and sent her off.

10 minutes later, Harry walked into the library and spotted Hermione at her usual study spot.

"Hermione," he whispered when he had approached her. "may I have a word?"

"Well sure, Harry." She looked up at him expectantly.

"Not here!" he hissed and flashed what he hoped was an embarrassed smile. "I don't want to be overheard."

Hermione raised an eyebrow at him, but got up and packed her things.

"So..?" she pressed once they were out of the library.

"In private, please?" Harry whispered. "It's kinda personal. I don't want the entire school to know I need girl-advice."

"Oh honestly..." Hermione rolled her eyes but followed him nonetheless.

Harry quietly walked back and forth in front of the emptry bit of wall. He did not want Hermione to knwo which properties he wished for the room to have.

The door appeared and they entered. Harry was relieved. The room looked like the Gryffindor Common Room.

"So?" Hermione asked as soon as Harry closed the door.

"Well, it's about Ginny." Harry started.

"I gathered as much..." Hermione narrowed her eyes.

Harry hoped Ron would hurry now. He was not sure how long he could stall.

"Well... I... I really like her..."

Hermione smiled. "Harry... we've all known that for a long time. It's very obvious."

Harry felt his face heat up. He had not realised it was that visible.

There was an awkward silence between them.

"Well..." Hermione sent him a small smile and reached for her book bag.

Harry panicked. He had to make her stay. He had to tell her something else so she would stay.

"I think I love her!" he blurted, his eyes widening as he realised what he had just said.

Hermione let go of her book bag and gaped at him.

"Harry..."

He gulped.

The next thing he knew, Hermione had flung her arms around him and hugged him tightly.

"Oi!"

Harry let go of Hermione and looked to the door where Ron was standing, looking angry.

"What's going on?" Ron glowered and walked into the room.

"We were just talking..." Harry said and inched towards the door.

"Didn't look that way." Ron frowned.

"It's not like that..." Harry began. "See.. it's like this..."

But instead of finishing his sentence, he turned, ran the few steps out of the room and slammed the door behind him. He instantly heard the lock click as he had wished for.

Fifteen minutes later, Harry was still grinning at his success when he ungracefully tumbled out of the fireplace in the hall of Potter Manor.

The hall was empty but he heard laughter from the kitchen and found his parents, Sirius and Remus around the dining table.

"Hey Fawn!" Sirius greeted when Harry appeared in the doorway.

"Harry," his mum instantly got up. "Would you like some chicken?"

"No thanks Mum, I had dinner at Hogwarts." He smiled.

"Well, then I'll just clear the table and get out of the way." Lily smiled. "I know you have some male bonding planned."

"What will you be doing, Flower?" James asked.

"I have some research results to discuss with Severus."

James raised an eyebrow. "You're exchanging Potion ideas with Sn... Snape on a Saturday night?"

"Ew!" Sirius exclaimed. "Ew, James, bad mental image!"

James laughed. "You formed the image, Padfoot. I was just expressing my worry that my wife has weird friends. Oh, and Padfoot, for future reference, don't cook up any such sorts of mental images of my wife!"

Lily laughed and kissed James' cheek as she put a cloak on over her light yellow robes.

* * *

Laughter ran through the dungeon that the Marauders used as their club room. In the middle of the coffee table sat a pensieve which was currently showing a very enraged Snape, tugging desperately at his wand which stayed put on the desk.

Harry was beaming happily as his father clutched his side in laughter, Sirius had rolled off the couch and onto the floor, and usually composed Remus supported himself against the table.

A half empty bottle of No-Consequence Rum sat on the table and had only assisted in making the memory more entertaining each time they viewed it. This was the fourth time.

Two hours later, Harry did not find the memory amusing anymore. In fact, he was awfully tired.

"Prongs, did you realise, _hic_, that your name without the e, _hic_, is Jams?" Sirius said as the memory-Snape for who-knew-which-time sneered "30 points from Gryffindor."

"Well," James shrugged as Harry closed his eyes and rested his head against the back rest of the couch. "if there were two of you, we'd be referring to you as Sirii."


	24. The Cracking Pillars

**A/N: Phew, studying certainly doesn't leave me with a lot of spare time! I know... same old excuse. But I finally managed, so here's the next chapter. I don't blame any of you for having to go back and read in order to remember what's going on in this story! I hope you enjoy. **

**Chapter 24: The Cracking Pillars**

The muscles in Harry's shoulders hurt terribly when he woke up and his glasses had dug into his face on the side where he had rested his head against the back rest of the couch.

The fire in the fireplace had reduced to glowing embers, so the light was dim.

Harry held back a snort when he took in the sight of the sleeping Marauders. His father, mouth slightly open and glasses askew, was occupying the other end of the couch that Harry was sitting on, and Remus had hogged the entire other couch where he was sleeping soundly with a blanket wrapped tightly around him.

Apparently, Sirius had given up on getting part of Remus' couch, so he had transformed into his animagus form and the shaggy, black dog was now sleeping on the floor between the couch and the coffee table – and in a very odd position at that. The dog was fast asleep on its back with all four legs sticking up into the air.

Harry mused that he would not be the only one with sore muscles in the morning.

He checked his watch: 4.17 AM

Harry took off his father's glasses, placed them on the coffee table and put a few logs on the dying fire before he tiptoed upstairs and flooed back to school. Once at Hogwarts, he climbed the stairs and went to bed.

Harry did not wake until noon and then he snuggled for another half hour until his stomach started begging him for breakfast... or... well... lunch, technically.

He made his way to the kitchens where the house elves served him a delicious br.. lunch of treacle tart, which Harry made a mental note never to let his mum know about.

As he walked back to the Common Room, he had woken enough to notice that people were sending him funny looks. Lavender Brown grinned and wagged her eyebrows at him when he passed her and when he entered the Common Room, people were whispering to each other and kept glancing at him. He supposed he should be used to it by now, but he became curious and approached Dean and Seamus who looked like they were supposed to be doing homework but were distracting each other instead.

"Hey Harry, did you sleep well?" Dean asked loudly and the entire Common Room quieted as Seamus sniggered.

"Er, not really," Harry replied. "I fell asleep on the couch at home and got this awful crick in my neck."

"Oh riiiiight, you were at your parents' last night." Seamus said teasingly.

Harry felt confused and said slowly "Er... yeah."

"No-one believes that, Potter..."

"But I was!" Harry cried.

"You're famous, Harry. Did you really think you could hide it?" Dean raised an eyebrow. "I mean, gossip travels fast at Hogwarts. You of all people should know that."

Harry was getting annoyed and he felt that he had missed some vital clue. "What on earth are you talking about?"

"Why, your little hot evening, of course." Said Seamus.

"So which one was it?" asked Dean.

"Mischief under the starry sky?"

"Dusting her off in a broom closet?"

"Rubbing in the Prefect's bathroom?"

"WHAT?" Harry spluttered.

"The entire school knows," Seamus laughed. "that the Boy-Who-Lived-And-Conquered got laid last night."

Harry blinked. "What? Where did you hear that?"

"So it's true then?"

"What? No!" Harry objected and felt his face go warm. "I... why do you think that?"

Dean looked a bit confused now. "Well, what else could we believe when your fair maiden did not return to her chamber last night?"

Harry's stomach gave a lurch. "Ginny didn't sleep in her bed last night?"

"That's what everyone says."

Harry frowned. Come to think of it, he would have expected to have seen Ron and Hermione by now.

Suddenly, the uneasy feeling in his stomach exploded into full scale panic. He did not even reply Dean and Seamus before he raced out of the portrait hole.

People yelled at him as he zig-zagged in and out between groups of students in the hallways. Many jumped out of his way and started chattering excitedly as he passed them. After years of experience, most students at Hogwarts knew that something big was usually going on when Harry Potter raced by.

He paced impatiently in front of the Room of Requirement, but the door did not appear. Harry realised that he had been thinking of Ginny and not about what sort of room he wanted. He tried again and this time, the door appeared.

He flung it open and tore inside.

"I CAN'T BELIEVE YOU!!!" a very messy-haired Hermione screeched as soon as he appeared. "WHAT DO YOU HAVE TO SAY FOR YOURSELF? OUR BEST FRIEND! LOCKING US IN A ROOM LIKE... LIKE..."

"WHERE'S GINNY?" Harry interrupted.

"WHAT?"

"Ginny," Harry sighed and ran a hand through his hair. "She was supposed to let you out this morning."

"Well, obviously, she didn't." Hermione countered and crossed her arms.

Harry stared at her helplessly, then looked at Ron who was standing in the background. "Help me find her..."

"Where did you see her last?" Hermione asked.

Harry swallowed. "Last night before her detention with Snape."

"Well, then Professor Snape might know where she went after detention." Hermione said. "let's go and ask him."

Harry and Ron exchanged a look which told him that Ron was thinking the same as Harry. Most likely, Snape would not be very helpful.

"She probably just went for a walk." He forced himself to think, but his mind objected. _In the middle of the night?"_

Harry breathed heavily as he knocked on the door to the Potions classroom. No-one answered, so he opened the door and looked inside. Empty.

"Maybe he's in his private rooms." Harry mumbled and walked down the corridor.

"Howcome you know where his private rooms are?" wondered Ron.

"Never mind that now." Harry snapped as he knocked on the door to Snape's private quarters.

"Fine, I don't think I want to know anyway." muttered Ron.

No-one answered Harry's knock and he grabbed the door ring.

"Harry!" Hermione hissed. "You can't go in!"

Harry sighed and pulled a piece of old parchment from the pocket of his robes and handed it to Hermione. "You keep a look-out."

With that, he turned the door ring and the door squeaked open. Ron followed him into the dark room.

"Lumos"

Harry moved his wand light around the room and felt his heart sink.

The book case was empty and there was nothing on the table. Ron reached out and opened the wardrobe.

"Empty." He concluded and stared wide-eyed at Harry.

Harry stared back at Ron. "He left?"

"You don't think that..." said Ron slowly, but he was interrupted by Hermione, who entered the room with the Map in her hand. She put it on the emptry table and lit a candle with her wand.

"Ginny's not on the Map." She said dryly.

"Are you sure+" Ron asked as they grouped around the table. "Maybe you missed her."

"I hope so." Harry muttered as they all started scanning the map.

The tension in the room grew the longer they stared at the map without finding a dot named 'Ginevra Weasley'. Harry's eyes moved across the paper desperately and the feeling in his stomach grew and little cracks appeared at the base of the pillars that held up his world.

Suddenly, he could not contain his feelings anymore and he jumped up and knocked a lamp off a nearby counter. It shattered against the floor with a crash.

Hermione tapped her wand to the map and said shakily: "Mischief managed."

"No!" Ron Exclaimed and jumped up. "She's there somewhere! We just missed her! We didn't look carefully enough! She has to be there!"

"BUT SHE'S NOT!" Harry yelled and felt his eyes sting.

"She has to be there..." Ron repeated desperately and his his head in his hands. Hermione put her arms comfortingly around him.

That was when something dawned on Harry and as much as he feared being right, he knew as soon as the realisation hit him that he was. The cracks grew and moved up the very pillars.

He re-activated the map.

"Harry, what..."

"Schh." He hushed as he found what he was looking for, cleared the Map and folded it while he ran out the door.

Ron and Hermione ran after him. "Did you find her?"

"No, she's not there. I just realised something." He said darkly as they ran.

"Something good, right?" asked Ron as they sped through the castle. Harry did not reply.

Moments later, he crashed through the door to the private room of Regulus Black. The dark haired occupant jumped up as they barged in, but he did not manage to draw his wand before Harry punched him. Surprised, he flew to the floor.

"WHERE IS SHE?" Harry roared with pain and anger as he pointed his wand at Black.

"What? Who?"

"Ginny! They took her! Where's their headquarters?" Harry snapped and pushed his wand against Black's throat.

"I don't know. And who's Ginny?"

"His sister," Harry pointed to Ron. "... and my girlfriend. She's gone and Snape's upped and left. He took her!"

"I have nothing to do with it." Black countered. "I don't know where they've taken her. But if I were them, I definitely wouldn't take her to the headquarters. That's too easy to find now. They've probably found a new hide-out."

"You might still be one of them." Harry said suspeciously.

"You heard my story. I'm not one of them. My brother believe me."

"Harry..." Hermione stepped in front of him and gently pushed his wand arm down.

Harry sighed shakily and stepped back.

"You need to tell Dumbledore about this." Said Black. "Tell me what happened while we walk."

As they marched through the castle, Hermione recounted what had happened as Ron looked much paler than usual and Harry did not feel like talking.

They were near the Headmaster's office when they heard running footsteps and moments later, the Marauders rounded the corner.

"HARRY!" James exclaimed and ran right into him, hugging him tightly. "Thank Merlin, you're alright! I was so scared! I can't believe that bastard!"

"I'm fine." Harry replied but hugged his father tightly anyway as it felt slightly comforting.

"I was so scared." James repeated and rested his head against Harry's messy hair. "I thought he'd got all of my family."

Harry tensed. "What? Why? If he would take anyone else, wouldn't it be Ron?"

"Why would he need Ron and Lily?" James looked at him and Harry realised how worn his father looked.

"What? No, he took Ginny." Harry clarified as his heart clenched.

"He took Ginny?" James said darkly. "Harry, he took your Mum too."

At that moment, the cracked pillars failed to carry the weight any more and Harry's world came crashing down around him.

"No..." he whispered and his father pulled him tightly again.

"I'm so sorry, Harry."

Harry did not care who watched as he sobbed into his father's shoulder while the dust of his collapsed world settled around them. Moments later, he felt James' own tears run down his forehead.

Once they had recovered slightly from the first shock, they made their way to Dumbledore's office.

After explaining everything to the Headmaster, Dumbledore sighed. "I am afraid, then, that we have no clues as to where Mrs. Potter and Miss Weasley are."

"But we have to look for them!" James exclaimed. "I can't just sit here and wait while some mental head has my family!" he put a protective arm around Harry.

"Sadly, James, you do not have much choice until they let their whereabouts be known."

"What?" Harry gasped. "Are you saying we should just sit here with our hands in our laps until they decide to enlighten us?"

"It is not ideal, I agree." Replied Dumbledore. "but as it often the case in such grave matters, we do not have a choice."

"There is always a choice!" James said darkly. "It might not be simple or easy – nor immediately apparent – but there is always a choice. And I will not choose to sit and wait for news. If that greasy git has my wife, I will fight."

"Me too." Harry agreed and James did not object.

"I do not believe that Severus will hurt them." Sighed Dumbledore and added darkly. "They are not what he is after."

"What do you mean?" asked Ron, who was looking very ill.

"The only scenario that makes sense is that he is after James and Harry. Lily and Miss Weasley are being used as bait. They will let us know where they are, because both of you, James, Harry, have proven that you will not hesitate to rush to help – especially when the person in trouble is someone you love. They will prepare for your arrival so that when they send for you, you will walk straight into the trap."

"Not if we find them first." James said determinedly.

"We'll help." Said Sirius from the background.

"So will we." Said Hermione.

"No," Harry objected. "It's me they are after. There's no need for you to take that risk."

"She's my sister, Harry." Ron objected.

"Harry," James said quietly and placed a hand on his shoulder. "Sometimes, the support of friends is invaluable."

"It's not an offer." Ron said. "We're not letting you choose. So let's at least work together."

James nodded and stood. "Headmaster, due to my doubts of the security, I am pulling Harry home from school until further notice."


End file.
